The American Muggleborn
by Veovis Rakeri
Summary: Slow burn story of an American muggleborn wizard who finds himself enrolled at Hogwarts in the same year as the golden trio. Told mostly from his perspective and there will be mature content in the future. [Hermione-OC] This story has my take on soul bonds. My version doesn't suddenly make the couple married. Please rate and review, they help more than you know. No bashing.
1. Year 1 Chapter 1

"Dante could you come down here please?"

Dante had been waiting in the hallway upstairs in his house. He was short for his age and very skinny. He had deep brown eyes, almost black, but they would rarely meet anyone else's. Just a few moments ago, a strange old woman wearing a pointed hat and long green robes came to the house to speak to his parents. She had a funny accent and a brisk demeanor. Dante padded downstairs to see his parents sitting across from this woman in the living room.

"Dante, this woman is Professor McGonagall. She's just told us that she has a place for you at her school." His mother explained.

"What kind of school is it?" Dante asked timidly. Professor McGonagall smiled at him.

"Hogwarts is a school of magic. The full title of course is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Dante echoed.

"Dante, you are a wizard." Professor McGonagall said simply.

Dante's jaw dropped. This was impossible, of course, witches and wizards were just fiction. "I'm sure you're mistaken. I can't be a wizard."

"Has anything strange happened around you? Perhaps when you were angry or scared or excited?"

"Luke Miller's eyes started hurting him when he tried to cheat on my science test, and then there was that time I ended up on the roof of the playground equipment..." Dante said, thinking.

"You see? You're still quite young so you don't have much control over your magic. When you come to school, you will not only be taught how to use magic, but also how to control it. Normally magic is passed down from parent to child, but in your case both of your parents are what's called 'muggles' or 'non-magical.' This makes you a muggleborn wizard."

" 'Muggleborn wizard?' Well where is this school?" Dante asked, getting quite confused.

"Scotland. If you agree to come to school, before the start of term I will take you to a flat in London where you can buy your school supplies. Then on September the first, you will go to Platform 9-3/4 at King's Cross Station to ride the train to school. Something important to note is that you are now aware that you are a wizard. As an underage wizard, you are not permitted to use magic away from school until you reach the age of seventeen. The laws are the same for the American Ministry of Magic as they are for the British Ministry when it comes to the Statute of Secrecy."

Dante stared, nonplussed by her words. "But… How will I get there and back every day? That sounds like a lot of travel… And seventeen? Why not eighteen?"

Professor McGonagall chuckled "Hogwarts is a boarding school. You'll have a dormitory to sleep in and a common room to mingle with your fellow housemates. There are four houses that all students are sorted into, each named for one of the four founders of the school. Gryffindor is my house, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. There will be time for you to come back here for the winter holidays and Easter. Although, I don't recommend that you leave school for Easter as it'll take you far too long to get here and back. In the wizarding world, the age of majority is seventeen. In our world, you'll be an adult on your seventeenth birthday."

"Will I still have summer vacation?"

"Of course. Term ends second week of June and begins the first of September every year. You'll spend seven years at Hogwarts and once you're seventeen, you'll be an adult and allowed to use magic outside of school."

"Can I go?" Dante looked eagerly to his parents.

"Sure. Make sure to get good grades and keep in touch. We want to know how you're doing." Dante's father replied. He then turned to the old professor. "When should we expect you to return to take him shopping for school supplies? How much will he need to pay for his things?"

"Well let me think for a moment. His wand will cost 10 Galleons and that is the most expensive thing on his list. For all of his supplies and enough money to feed himself while he's not at school I'd say about 40 Galleons for a first year. I can come by next weekend to pick him up, Saturday at 9 o'clock."

Dante looked up, confused again. "Galleons?"

"Oh of course!" Professor McGonagall chuckled. "Galleons are wizard gold, like Dollars here. The current rate is something like three Pounds to a Galleon, and the Pound is just under twice as valuable as the Dollar. So around $240 for him to bring for school supplies. Meals are provided free of charge at school."

Dante's mother and father looked at each other and smiled. "That sounds fine to us. Dante, what do you say to Professor McGonagall?"

A soft blush crept up his face as he turned to face the old witch. "Thank you, Professor M… M…" He struggled to pronounce the woman's name.

"McGonagall." She finished with a smile. "I'll be around to pick you up Saturday morning, then. Dante, Mr. and Mrs. Monte, good day." She then stood up and stepped outside. With a 'pop' she was gone.

The next week dragged painfully slowly for Dante, he was far too eager for the strange woman's return. He'd read the letter that she had left him six times. Top of his list was a wand. He was going to get a wand! One thing that she'd mentioned about wands had him thinking hard. She'd said that it would cost 10 Galleons. So that means that all wands probably cost that much. Were they all identical? Were there no extra powerful wands? Or maybe each wand was unique and could only be used by one person, so it'd make no sense to charge more or less for them. Dante had just concluded that the latter was probably true when he was startled out of his stupor by his mother.

"Dante, finish your cereal! Professor McGonagall will be here any minute! You've got a long journey ahead and I don't want you leaving on an empty stomach."

"Sorry, mom. I was just thinking."

"Try really hard to make friends this year, okay? I'm sure it'll help with you being so new."

"I will." Dante said solemnly as he finished his bowl of cereal. He had just placed his bowl in the sink when there was a 'pop' out front. A moment later and Professor McGonagall knocking on the door. There was a brief but tearful goodbye and soon Dante was being led out front by Professor McGonagall. She stopped at the sidewalk, pulled out her wand (Dante noted that it was a very deep brown, like black coffee) and looked down at him.

"Take a deep breath and grab hold of my arm. Hold on tight." She said.

With a moment's hesitation, he grabbed her proffered arm and took a deep breath. He felt the arm jerk away from him and he tightened his grip. A horrible sensation of being squeezed tightly on all sides followed. Everything hurt all at once. Then it was over. He took a few gasping breaths and looked wildly around. Where was he? It looked like a dirty bar.

"How do you feel, Dante?" Professor McGonagall asked kindly.

"I feel… dizzy." He hesitated. "Where are we?"

"We're at a pub called The Leaky Cauldron, but we won't be staying here. We have your school shopping to do. This way." She led him out the back of the pub to a dead-end alley and began tapping the bricks at the far end with her wand. The bricks all started shifting aside to form a wide archway and through that, "This is Diagon Alley. Over there is Flourish and Blotts' where you'll find your school books. There is Madam Malkin's for your robes. First, we must go to Gringotts to have your money exchanged."

Dante and Professor McGonagall walked quickly to a large white building with great stone columns around the entrance. "Best stick close to me, Dante. Don't want the Gringotts goblins to see you alone." Dante hurried forward to stay by McGonagall's side. She stopped at a desk and cleared her throat. "Mr. Dante Monte would like to make a currency exchange."

A hideous, wrinkly creature looked up at her then down at Dante. "Hand over what you want to exchange." It growled.

Dante pulled the $250 that his parents gave him out of his pocket and handed it over. The goblin examined each bill very closely, then peered at a chart on his desk. "What you have given me is worth 46 Galleons, 12 Sickles, and 5 Knuts." He counted out a number of gold, silver, and bronze coins and swept them into a bag. "Here you are."

Professor McGonagall insisted that Dante wait for his wand until the end. Something about saving the best for last. He spent 8 Galleons on books in Flourish and Blotts', 4 in Madam Malkin's, 6 in an apothecary, 2 on a large trunk with the letters "D.M." on it, and another 10 on various equipment like quills, parchment, a telescope, ink, among others.

Finally, they headed to the shop he was most eager to visit, Ollivander's. When they walked in, Dante thought the shop looked like an old dusty library. Shelves rose to the ceiling and formed aisles. Instead of books, however, these were narrow packages. An ancient, wiry man stood behind the counter, looking down at Dante. "You're here for your wand?"

Dante gulped and nodded.

"Which is your wand arm?"

"Uh, I write left-handed… But I can do almost anything else with both hands." A tape measure flew towards him and started measuring every part of his body that it could reach.

"That's enough." Ollivander croaked and the tape fell to the floor. "Perhaps this wand?" He opened a box and held it out to Dante. "Hawthorn and Dragon Heartstring, 12-1/4 inches, unyielding."

Dante picked the wand up gingerly and felt quite silly.

"Give it a wave!" Cried Ollivander.

He did, but nothing happened. The wand was snatched from his hand.

"Try this," Ollivander handed him another. "Ebony and Unicorn Hair." No sooner had Dante grabbed the wand that it was taken away. "Oak and Phoenix Feather?" Again. "Holly and Unicorn Hair? No? Maybe… Mahogany and Phoenix Feather." Ollivander handed him the latest wand. It vibrated subtly and he felt a surge of warmth from it. "Oh excellent!" He cried. "Mahogany and Phoenix Feather, 13-3/4 inches, springy. That is the wand that chose you."

"The wand chose me?"

"Oh yes, the wand chooses the wizard, my boy. I think, if the phoenix who gave me the feather for your wand is anything to go by, that we can expect great things from you. I believe what you have there is a dueling wand. It wants to fight."

Dante returned the wand to its box and paid for it. They went to Professor McGonagall's flat for a quick dinner and afterwards, she suggested that he write a letter to his parents to let them know how his day has gone. It would also be good practice to write with a quill rather than a pencil like he is used to. He sat down and wrote, bursting with excitement for tomorrow.

Professor McGonagall ushered Dante through the barrier between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross. She had told him to hurry up and get on the train and not to wait for her. Now Dante was dragging his trunk down the aisle of the train, looking for a place to sit. He'd been searching the train for a few minutes when he finally saw a compartment with only two boys about his age inside. He pushed the thoughts of himself trying to make friends in the past out of his mind, dwelling on that wouldn't help him right now.

'_Make friends_' he thought bitterly and then he knocked on the door before opening it.

"Excuse me," He said, and the red-haired boy's eyebrows shot up at the sound of his voice. "Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else looks full."

"Why do you sound like that?" The red-haired boy asked.

"Sure, I don't mind." The black-haired boy said.

Dante pushed into the compartment and stowed his trunk. "I'm from America. It's you guys that sound weird to me. I'm Dante, what are your names?"

"Ron Weasley." The red-haired boy said.

"Harry Potter." The black-haired boy said.

"Nice to meet you."

"Harry, I don't think he knows who you are!" Ron exclaimed.

"Apparently I'm famous." Harry said to Dante bitterly.

"Famous? For what?"

"I knew it! You're muggleborn, aren't you? That's alright, there's loads of muggleborns and they always get on well enough."

"I am muggleborn. So, what are you famous for, Harry?" Dante asked, grinning.

Harry brushed the hair aside from his forehead to reveal a thin, lightning shaped scar. "My parents were murdered when I was a baby, and the wizard who did it tried to kill me, too. Somehow his curse backfired and destroyed him instead."

The color left Dante's face and his grin faded. "Oh…" He said meekly. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I didn't know myself 'til a month ago." He frowned and changed the subject. "Where are you from in America?"

"Ohio."

"What's that?" Ron asked thickly.

"The state I'm from. I grew up in a town called North Canton in the state of Ohio." Dante explained. "Lots of corn there and not much else." Ron snorted at that.

"That's…" Harry thought for a moment. "There's just a lake between your state and Canada, right?"

"Yeah, Lake Erie. There's an amusement park that we sometimes go to in the summer on a peninsula on the lake. They say you can see Canada from the top of a few of the roller coasters, but I'm pretty sure I've only ever seen some islands across the water though."

"Sounds nice, I've never been to an amusement park." Harry said.

"Neither have I." Said Ron.

The door to the compartment opened again. A bushy haired girl stood in the doorway. "Hello, have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one." All three of them shook their heads. Her eyes fell upon Harry's scar and widened. "Holy cricket!" Dante fought hard to suppress a snort. "You're Harry Potter!" She sat down. "I'm Hermione Granger. Of course, I've read all about you. And you are?" She turned Ron who had chosen the wrong time to take a bite out of a sandwich.

"Ron Weasley." He got out through a mouthful.

Hermione looked reproachful. "Pleasure." She turned to Dante with a smile. "And you?"

"My name's Dante Monte." Her eyes lit up at the sound of his voice, and he felt himself blushing again.

"You're from America! Oh, you must tell me all about it when you get a chance! I'm hoping that I get sorted into Gryffindor, although Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad, I suppose. Perhaps we'll be sorted into the same house! I have to go though, I promised Neville that I would help him. You three ought to change into your school robes. I expect we'll be arriving before long." She stood up and made for the door and turned to face Ron. "You've got dirt on your nose, did you know? Just there." Then she left.

"She was nice." Dante said.

"She's like my mum." Ron moaned, scowling.

"She was just trying to be nice," Harry supplied before the door opened again. A white-blonde boy with his hair slicked back entered the compartment, staring at Harry.

"So, it's true then." He drawled. "Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." Two heavy set boys stood behind him and sniggered. "The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, and this is Crabbe and Goyle."

Dante spoke up. "Do people normally refer to each other by their last names here?"

Draco glared at him "You'll be that American muggleborn, then." He turned back to Harry. "Listen, Potter. You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others. You don't want to associate with the wrong sort." He glared at Dante and Ron again. "I can help you there" He then held up a hand for Harry to shake.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Draco scowled and stormed away, Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

Dante chuckled, "I think I liked Hermione's visit better. Should we lock the door and change before we get another visit?"

Harry nodded and locked the door. The three of them pulled on their robes and chatted idly about what they were most excited for. Dante confessed that he was most excited to use his wand, he'd been playing with it for a while, admiring it. "What's yours made of?" Harry asked.

"Mahogany and Phoenix Feather." Dante said. "Yours?"

"Holly and Phoenix Feather."

"Mine used to belong to my brother, Charlie. Ash and Unicorn Hair."

"Did you not get one of your own?" Dante asked.

"No, my parents couldn't aff-" He stopped and frowned, his ears began to glow a brilliant red.

"Sorry," Dante said quickly. "I didn't mean-"

"S'fine." Ron mumbled. "You've got a pretty long one. Did Ollivander tell you that those do best in duels?"

"He mentioned that mine wanted to duel. Something about the phoenix that gave him the feather for my wand."

Soon the train was slowing to a stop at Hogsmeade station. Dante had spent a few hours only half paying attention to Harry and Ron's conversation while he read his school books. He didn't want to feel completely lost when classes started. Once the train stopped, he quickly stuffed his books back into his trunk and dragged it out onto the platform. He heard a gruff voice calling out, "Firs' years this way!" and he saw an enormous man with a shaggy black mane holding up a lantern.

"Hello, Hagrid!" Harry said brightly.

"Hello, Harry! Yeh'd best be off, you an' yer friends grab a boat!"

Dante, Ron, and Harry stepped into the closest boat and soon all the boats were filled. The moment the first years all had their seats, the boats began to glide smoothly across the water. They drifted around a cliff and then Dante saw it. A great castle sat on a hill across the lake. Turrets and towers sprang up all around it and windows all over were lit with a flickering light.

They reached a boat house at the foot of the castle's hill and climbed the long steps to the entrance. The door to the castle opened to reveal Professor McGonagall. She looked round to all of the first years and spoke. "In a moment, I will open the doors behind me, and you will all follow me into the Great Hall. I will call your name, you will step forward, I will place the Sorting Hat upon your head and then you will sit with your house. While you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the points will be tallied and the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. I will be back to get you in a moment.

After a brief pause, the doors to the Great Hall opened again and Professor McGonagall led the first years in. She carried a stool and a patched old hat. She set the stool down before a long table where it looked like the school staff all sat, then placed the hat on the stool and stood aside.

A tear on the hat opened and the whole room fell silent. Silent apart from one voice that sang out.

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head,  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I'll tell you  
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin,  
You'll make real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I am a Thinking Cap!"

The room burst into applause and cheers for the Sorting Hat's song. After a short while, the noise died down and Professor McGonagall began to read names off her list. Dante could only make out a few of the names.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

"Crabbe, Vincent!"

"Finnegan, Seamus!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

Dante looked up, he was curious where she would be sorted.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat cried after a moment of deliberation. Dante watched her take her seat with the Gryffindors and decided to sit with her if he was put there.

A few more names were called.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

"Malfoy, Draco!" Dante saw the hat barely touch his head before it called out

"Slytherin!"

"Monte, Dante!"

Dante walked stiffly to the stool, the hat was lowered onto his head and he heard it muttering in his ear. "Oh, very interesting. Poor lad, never had an easy time making friends, have you? But that hasn't stopped you from trying, many times, looks like. Very sensitive to injustice, too. Excellent mind, as well. You want to prove yourself here, but you aren't confident that you have what it takes… Oh, but I see someone has caught your eye already…" It paused then shouted "Gryffindor!"

Dante grinned and ran over to the Gryffindor table, receiving many claps on the back and sat next to Hermione. "Hi!" He said, still grinning.

Hermione laughed and shushed him so she could listen to the rest. The Sorting finished with Ron being put into Gryffindor and Blaise Zabini in Slytherin.

The man at the center of the staff table stood up and spoke, "I have a few words before we begin our excellent feast! Here they are: Tuck in!"

Dante rose his eyebrow quizzically at that, not knowing what 'Tuck in' meant, but then he looked round and saw all of the serving plates on the table were loaded with the most delicious looking food he'd ever seen. He loaded his plate with pot roast and mashed potatoes and began to eat. "So, now I can tell you about America, Hermione."

She grinned, "Oh, good! Where are you from over there?"

"Ohio, I-" He began but she cut across him.

"Oh, I know where Ohio is! What part are you from? Near Columbus?"

"North Canton. The closest big city to me is Akron, just north, then Cleveland is a bit further north than that."

"Have you always lived there?"

"No, I was born in a small town at the tristate of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and lived there until I was three, then moved to Cincinnati for a year, then to North Canton."

"What was Cincinnati like? I've heard it's beautiful!"

"Honestly I hardly remember. I was only three. Akron is nice though; the people are very friendly."

"Have you been away from Ohio before now?"

"Yeah, I've been to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina a couple times, Orlando, Florida the year before last, and New York City last year."

Hermione's eyes lit up at the mention of New York City, "Oh, do tell me all about it!"

Dante laughed, "I'll tell you if you can answer some questions for me."

"Like what?"

"Why does everyone here have a different accent? No two people that I've talked to lately sound the same!"


	2. Year 1 Chapter 2

Dante was quite glad to have gone through his books beforehand; in their first Potions lesson, Hermione and he were the only ones to raise their hands with an answer when Professor Snape asked questions. Hermione beamed at him when she saw this, but Professor Snape never called on them for an answer. Professor Flitwick was eager to call on the pair of them and award points for correct answers. Professor McGonagall was pleased to see he and Hermione getting on so well, but her demeanor was much stricter than when she had dealt with him before the start of term. One evening in mid October, he was sat at one of the tables in the common room with his homework sprawled out in front of him. Instead of working, he had plenty of time to get through his assignments, he let his mind wander to think back on his time at school so far.

With him being so well read, this put him in a position to help Harry through his homework and Ron would tag along. When they weren't talking about homework, Harry would sometimes reveal that he hadn't had the best childhood. Little throwaway comments like him saying that he didn't have any friends that would miss him back home, or his eagerness to stay away from home for Christmas, made Dante feel like Harry was just as isolated as he was.

Ron was brought up by a wizarding family, and Dante at first thought that this would make him something of an expert on things in the wizarding world. Unfortunately, Ron was rather ignorant about magic. He wasn't very interested in doing anything beyond the bare minimum and this frustrated Dante. How much help was he expecting Dante to give him if he wasn't going to bother learning anything himself? Why is a muggleborn from another country more knowledgeable about magic than he was? So far, the only useful thing that Ron had told him was that there was some prejudice in the wizarding world about blood status. There were five blood statuses: Pure-blood, half-blood, muggleborn, squib, and muggle. Ron had warned him that because of his blood status as a muggleborn, there will be some people who would try to bully him over it. People like Malfoy.

Hermione, he quickly found out was a muggleborn just like him. It was immediately apparent to Dante that she was very intelligent, and that made her very good company. She was quick to help him understand something that he'd read ahead in his books. They often went to the library together to learn as much as they could about this new world they now inhabited. On the less academic side, he'd learned that she lived just southwest of London, and all of her accidental magic had manifested in libraries. When she was little, she was very upset about the books on the shelves at home were unorganized. Suddenly, all of the books flew off the shelves and alphabetized themselves. Similar things happened in local libraries, and Dante couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of this bookish girl organizing her library with magic.

In the first couple weeks, Dante grew quite close to Harry and Hermione. Their inexperience in the wizarding world was comforting to him. He wasn't alone here. When the others would ask about his home life, though, he would dodge their questions. He wasn't ready to tell them that he didn't have friends back home. That might scare them off and that was something that he seriously wanted to avoid. These people had willingly stayed in his company longer than anyone else that he tried to be friends with. This, while it was great, made him very nervous. He was just waiting for them to figure out that he was weird and leave him like all the rest, then he'd have to start all over again. As willing as he was to try again, he couldn't pretend that it wasn't frustrating.

Dante had stopped counting the number of times he'd tried making friends with people, it had been too many and the number just depressed him. No, he was sure that if he was going to make friends, he couldn't show his insecurities. They made him weak and he couldn't allow that to be seen. Every time he spoke to someone new, a wave of terror washed over him. Would they want to be his friend? Or would they ridicule him like the others? Harry and Hermione didn't seem the type to him. Ron, he couldn't figure out at all, and he wasn't nearly as interested in Ron as he was the other two.

After their first flying lesson, Dante learned that there was something in the wizarding world that he was not good at. He couldn't control the broomstick to save his life, and yet Harry looked more at home on one than on the ground. After a quick showdown between Harry and Draco, Harry was pulled aside and made the Gryffindor Quidditch team Seeker. Dante had met two of the other players, they were Ron's older twin brothers Fred and George. The pair played as Beaters, trying to protect the players on their team while attacking the other team players. He noted that Hermione was reluctant to fly as well, though she seemed more afraid to be off the ground than incompetent like he was.

When it came to academics, Dante learned that his best subject in school was Transfiguration, though the rest of his subjects weren't far behind at all. Transfiguration just clicked with him the easiest, and while Defense Against the Dark Arts was nice, Professor Quirrell didn't do much to make the lessons particularly interesting. His stuttering was a major distraction in the lessons and Dante couldn't help but think that the class would be much better in someone else's hands.

Dante was brought out of his musings by someone calling his name. "Hmm?" He hummed, looking around for the source of the distraction.

"Hello, Dante." Hermione said, sitting down at his table in the common room. "Are you working on your Charms homework?"

Dante looked down at her shoulder, he couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes. "I was, but I was just thinking about something else. Got distracted."

Hermione looked down at the shoulder that Dante was looking at, evidently trying to figure out if something was wrong with it. "How much have you gotten done so far?"

"Haven't started, to be honest. I'd be okay with going through it with you though, now that you have my mind back on it."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I'm happy here. I was just thinking about all that I've done so far here and it makes me happy."

Hermione smiled at him. "I'm glad. I'm quite happy here, as well. Most of my time studying back home wasn't nearly as enjoyable. Here it's just an entire new world for me."

Dante chuckled. "One of the things I thought of was that we finally found something here that neither of us are good at. Flying."

Hermione looked a little upset at that. "I don't like heights."

"And I can't control a broom. Everywhere else, we're great."

"If the others would just study, then they would be okay. Speaking of, I'd like to go over some things in Transfiguration, if that's alright with you."

"I thought you wanted to go over Charms."

"Well, we can do that, too, if you like. Do you have a preference?"

"What do you want to go over in Transfiguration?"

"Well, Professor McGonagall says that the key to Transfiguration is focus, but she never says what on. I've noticed that you picked up on it very quickly and I thought you could help."

"I think what she means is focus on the details about the thing you're Transfiguring. We've been trying to turn matches into needles; I try to focus on what the needle will look like when it transforms. The glint of light reflecting off it, the eye of it. All of those little details are what I picture in my head before I try to Transfigure it."

"Do you reckon the more detailed your imagined product is, the better your result?"

"That's what I figure, yeah." Dante said, shrugging. "I might just have a very focused imagination and that helps me."

Hermione huffed. "I've never really had much of an imagination." She gave a sniffle, but quickly schooled herself.

"I bet it's a bit like working out. You get better at it with practice."

Hermione looked sadly down at her lap and nodded. "I suppose."

Dante looked up and frowned. "Are you okay?"

Hermione shook herself and forced a smile at him. "Yes, I'm okay."

"I don't like that I can't fly. I've always been able to pick up almost anything if I try." Dante said, hoping to get her to open up. That was how you made real friends, right?

"I just…" Hermione broke off, trying to find the best way to describe her problem. "My old classmates would tease me about it. The girls in my school would make fun of me for not being able to join in their fantasies."

"People in my school would make fun of me for being a scrawny midget who can't play sports."

"You aren't nearly that short, Dante."

"I know, that's just what they would call me." Dante said, shrugging.

"Did it not bother you?"

"I just learned to ignore it. Who cares if I'm short now? The doctors back home all say that I'm going to grow pretty tall. They took an X-Ray of my hand and said so based on the gaps between the bones."

"How do you just brush it all aside, though?"

"I won't pretend that it never bothers me. I just try to ignore it and focus on what I am good at. It's just sometimes the things that I'm bad at can come up and make me feel bad about them."

"What are you bad at?" Hermione asked.

Dante gulped. He couldn't say what he was thinking. "Flying."

"You know what I mean. What is it that gets under your skin?"

Fear shot through him. A terrible, paralysing fear. "I, uh…" What was she doing? Was she asking so she could hurt him later? "I'm bad at every sport that my dad has ever tried to get me to play." He said, trying to avoid answering. If she did try to hurt him with this, at least it was a lie. Sports didn't bother him, he couldn't care less about them.

"I'm bad at relaxing. I always need to be doing something. Something productive." Hermione sighed. "I expect that's why I don't have any imagination. I never let my mind wander."

Their talk was interrupted by Harry sitting down at the table as well. "Hey, Dante, Hermione."

"Hi, Harry. How was Quidditch practice?" Dante asked.

"Not too bad. Reckon Wood wants to kill us, though, with all the practices."

Dante snorted. "Does he think you're any good?"

"He reckons I'm bloody brilliant." Harry shrugged. "Doesn't matter, I expect I'll make a fool of myself in our first match."

"You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood, Harry." Hermione said.

"How d'you mean?" Harry asked.

"Your father's name was James Potter, right?"

"I… yeah."

"He was Gryffindor Seeker when he came here. His team won the Quidditch Cup at least one of the years he was on the team."

"And look," Dante cut in. "You're the youngest Seeker in a century. You've even got your dad beat, then."

Harry looked hopeful at these words. "Thanks. Bit weird, though. You two knowing more about me than I do."

"I just noticed a trophy for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I looked closer at it and saw the name 'Potter' on it." Hermione said. "It's nothing, really. I remember a few other names on the Gryffindor trophy, someone called Sirius Black was a Beater, and there was a Chaser called Mary Macdonald."

"I do appreciate it, though." Harry said truthfully. "Hermione, I'm sorry about Ron. I don't know why he talks to you the way he does."

Hermione looked sadly down at her lap again. "It's nothing. It isn't like I haven't gotten used to people not liking me."

"I like you, Hermione." Dante said.

"I know we aren't very close, but I like you, too, Hermione." Harry said.

She smiled sadly. "Thanks. I like you two, as well."

Harry smiled then said he was going to get himself cleaned up. After he left, Dante looked back at Hermione. His eyes were still only on her shoulder.

"You know… Sirius Black sounds familiar, now that I think about it." Hermione mused.

"Does it?"

"I think he might have been close with Harry's parents. I don't know if he's still alive, I just think I saw his name alongside James somewhere else."

"You'll find it. You always find what you're looking for." Dante said smiling.

She smiled back and the two of them finally set about doing their homework. About two hours later, they were finished and made their way up to bed. Dante couldn't help but feel that he really did like Hermione. She was certainly the best person to talk to when it came to homework, anyway. What do you do with friends, though? So far, all they had ever done with each other is talk and do homework. Deciding that he would think of something eventually, he drifted off to sleep. He still didn't know why he was here at Hogwarts, but it didn't bother him. There was far too much in his mind to really think about something like that.


	3. Year 1 Chapter 3

On Halloween, the four of them sat in Charms where they were being taught to use the levitation charm, Wingardium Leviosa. Their goal was to make a feather, that each of them had been presented with, fly. Dante managed to make his feather float lazily above his desk, Harry's twitched. Seamus had the most spectacular failure and made his burst into flame. Draco, to Dante's delight couldn't cast the charm either and his minions just stared stupidly at their feathers. Ron waved his wand madly and called out repeatedly "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hermione watched him and scowled. "Stop, stop, stop. You're going to put someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's 'Levi-Oohh-sa' not 'LevioSaa.'" She told him crossly.

"You do it then, if you're so clever. Go on!" He shot back.

Hermione wore a smug look and pulled out her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," She said with a swish and flick of her wand and the feather floated higher and higher above her desk. She gave Ron a cheeky smirk and set her feather back down.

After class, Dante walked with Harry and Ron to the Great Hall while Ron moaned about the lesson. He was torn between who to walk with, but as Hermione was taking a while getting her things packed away after the lesson, he decided to walk with the boys.

Ron began a cruel mockery of Hermione that didn't sit well with Dante, " ' "It's Levi-Oohh sa" not "LevioSaa" ' Honestly, she's a nightmare. No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

With that, Hermione slammed her shoulder into his from behind and stormed away. "I think she heard you." Harry said sheepishly.

Dante stole after her. 'Made friends, now I have to keep them' he thought. He saw her slip into the girls' bathroom on the ground floor and heard a sob come from inside. He didn't know why, but that noise made him want to cry. "Hermione?" He called into the doorway.

"Go away!" A choked voice said.

"Hermione, please! I'm still your friend if you'd like. That was horrible what Ron said."

"Why do you hang around him, then? Just go!"

"I'm not going. I don't really like Ron much. Just Harry."

"Just go to the feast. I'm sure you're hungry. I bet you'll sit with him, too."

"I don't want to be near him after how he talked about you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, not him."

"I don't want you to see me."

"Then I'll stay out here."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Aren't you?"

There was a pause, "No. I'm not in the mood to eat after this." Hermione managed to choke out.

"Me neither."

"Why do you want a 'nightmare' like me as a friend?"

"Because you were nice to me."

"Other people have been nice to you."

"So far just you, Harry, and rarely Ron." He paused. "I… I've never had friends before. It's hard for me to tell good people from bad, and even harder for me to tell when some people are just not nice."

"Is that why you never look me in the eye?"

"No. It's just uncomfortable for me to look people in the eye. When I do, I… I just don't like looking at something that's looking back at me."

"I've… never had friends before Hogwarts either." Hermione said through a sob. "I always scared people away when I would do magic accidentally. Nobody liked me without magic either. I was always too busy reading."

The two of them sat in silence for a while. "I'm glad I met you, Hermione." Dante said. "School would be much harder if you weren't here with me."

Another pause, "I'm glad I met you, too. You haven't made me feel bad about liking books."

Dante smiled, "I might try to make you feel bad about some of the things you say. 'Holy cricket!' Honestly."

She giggled. "I will not apologize for not being as crass as you boys. Have you noticed that you've started to talk the way we do? Saying 'Honestly' like that isn't something you used to do."

"I suppose not. I was bound to pick up on things like that though, wasn't I?"

"You've done very well with that."

"That almost sounds like you're not upset anymore."

"I'm still furious."

"At me?"

"No."

"Ron?"

"Yes, but more at myself for letting him get to me like this. I know I shouldn't let what he says bother me, but I know there's something true to what he said."

"There is not. Ron was completely wrong. He was being a… a… let me think of a word that you British people would understand… A git."

She laughed but sniffled again. "I said before though, I've never had friends. I've always been so insufferable."

"I've never heard that word before but I'm going to assume it means something bad."

"It's… being around me was too much for people to bear."

"I'm going to have to disagree with you, Hermione."

"Why?"

"Every time I've been with you, I've been quite happy to have your company."

"You're just saying that because we're both muggleborn."

"I am not! You're the one I feel closest to here. Completely ignoring where we came from. Do you know, I've never asked much about your past. What do your parents do?"

"My parents are dentists."

"They'd hate me, then."

"Why?"

"I have a massive sweet tooth."

Hermione chuckled, "Maybe you could come and visit some time to find out if they hate you."

"Maybe you could come and visit me and see my small corner of America."

"Maybe I will."

"Maybe _I_ will."

"I'm sorry about being like this. I just don't want to come out of here yet."

"It's alright. I don't mind staying here."

"When you were young, did you ever have muggle doctors poking around your head?"

"I have, what about you?"

"Once. They told my parents something that they've never told me, so I don't know what they found out. Have you?"

"I have a neurologist back home who diagnosed me with a mental disorder. He called it Asperger's Syndrome. It's why I find it uncomfortable to look people in the eye, and why I have trouble making friends."

"You seem quite normal to me apart from the eye contact."

"I wish I could look people in the eye. I just feel… naked when I make eye contact."

"Do you normally not have clothes on when you make eye contact?" She asked cheekily.

"I haven't worn clothes in my life before coming here." Dante said dryly.

"Wouldn't surprise me, you being from such a backwards country like that."

Dante was about to retort when he heard a groan, then a thud. "Hermione, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Another thud and a heavy scraping noise, closer this time.

"I think something's coming." Dante said, alarmed.

"What?"

"I don't know what it is, but it sounds big." Dante looked round, listening. The thudding came closer still. It sounded like it was just around the corner at the end of the corridor. Then he saw a giant creature dragging a heavy wooden club along the floor. It had ugly gray, sagging skin and tree trunk like arms. Dante gasped and ran into the bathroom, forgetting all modesty.

"Dante!" Hermione squeaked. "This is the girls' bathroom!"

"We've got a bigger problem than that!"

"What?"

"There's a troll out…" Dante's sentence drifted away as he heard the troll's thudding footsteps outside the bathroom. "Hide!" He hissed and ducked into one of the cubicles, Hermione did the same. The troll came lumbering into the bathroom and growled. He could also hear fast footsteps getting closer to the bathroom.

"Hermione? Dante? Are you in here?" Harry called out.

"Help!" Shrieked Hermione.

"Yeah we're both here!" Dante yelled, but regretted it immediately. The troll roared and swung his club. Had Dante been standing, he would have been flung bodily into a wall by the club. The cubicles that he'd been hiding in were reduced to splinters of wood that buried him. He wrenched himself out of the debris and crawled over to the sinks.

"Oy! Pea-brain!" Ron bellowed, throwing bits of debris at the troll's head. It looked at him stupidly.

Harry snuck around behind the troll and launched himself onto its back, fastening his arms around the thick neck. The troll reared and thrashed, swinging its head wildly around. On a bid for freedom, the troll thrust his head forward, inadvertently jamming Harry's wand up into its nose. Screaming, the troll reached around and seized Harry by the ankle. It yanked him off its back and held him there upside down. It frantically tried swinging its club at Harry when Ron pulled out his wand and levitated the club above the troll's head. He dropped it, and with a sickening crunch, the troll staggered and toppled to the floor.

Harry struggled to his feet after having been dropped when Hermione spoke. "Is it… dead?" She asked cautiously.

"I don't think so, just knocked out." Harry said, unconcerned as he pulled his wand from the troll's nose.

Harry was busy wiping the troll's snot off of his wand when Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell came running in. McGonagall gasped at the sight of the unconscious troll. "Good heavens!" She screamed. "Explain this, all of you!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and didn't say anything. Dante opened his mouth to speak but Hermione spoke first. "It was my fault, Professor."

Professor McGonagall blanched. "Miss… Miss Granger?"

"I went looking for the troll because I'd read all about them. I thought I could handle it. If Dante, Harry and Ron hadn't come looking for me… I would probably be dead."

"Be that as it may, you've shown a serious lack of judgment Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, for your foolishness. And as for you three…" She turned to face Dante, Harry and Ron. "I hope you understand how fortunate you all are. Few first year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale! Five points will be awarded to each of you." She drew herself up to her full height and regained her composure. "For sheer dumb luck. Away, all of you."

The four of them stepped out into the corridor and all eyes were on Hermione. "Thanks." Said Harry.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Ron said shyly. "I owe you one for this."

"It's okay… I'll… I'll try to stop being so bossy."

"Did you two know about the troll?" Dante asked.

"Quirrell came running into the Great Hall screaming about a troll. We were told to go back to our houses but we'd heard you two were here. We only came to warn you to be perfectly honest." Harry explained.

"Thanks for coming." Dante paused. "Friends?"

"Friends." Said Harry and Ron.

Hermione gave a watery smile and said "Friends."


	4. Year 1 Chapter 4

The Christmas holidays were coming, it was the last day of classes and everyone in the castle seemed more cheerful. Students and staff alike, however, were wary of enchanted mistletoe. Being caught under it trapped you until someone came to rescue you by kissing you. Neville had been released several times by a certain Susan Bones.

Harry and Ron were beginning to rely heavily on Dante and Hermione for their studies. Dante was quick to point out that if they would just pay attention on their own then they would be alright. With Dante and Hermione working together, all of the Professors, save Snape, were delighted to see that they were the top two students in every class. Hermione only bested Dante in Potions and Charms; their grades were identical everywhere else. Professor McGonagall pulled Dante aside one day to suggest that he tell his parents about his performance in school. "They'll be so proud of you, Dante. As your Head of House, I'm proud of you, too. If you and Miss Granger keep this up, you'll be able to take your O.W.L. exams by third year and pass easily. They deserve to know how well you're doing, don't you think?"

"I'll make sure I do that, Professor."

"See that you do, Mr. Monte." McGonagall said with a smile and released him. Dante quickly caught up with the other three on their way to dinner.

"What'd McGonagall want?" Harry asked.

"She said that Hermione and I were so brilliant that we could pass our N.E.W.T.s today."

"Come off it!" Ron said.

"I might have exaggerated a bit."

"You two _are_ brilliant, though. I've never seen anyone _like_ studying." Harry said, scratching the back of his head.

"It isn't that bad, Harry." Hermione said crossly.

"Hermione, I hate studying." Dante said, admiring the thunderstruck look on her face. "I always just absorb everything the Professors say. Don't even need to look at the books again."

"How can you just rely on hearing the information once?"

"I dunno… It's serving me quite well though, only two points behind you in total in all classes."

"How do you do that, Dante?" Harry asked.

"Just listen to what's being said, I guess." Dante frowned. "I don't really take proper notes in class, I doodle."

"You… doodle?" Hermione asked, flabbergasted.

"Yeah, I just scribble a picture on a piece of parchment and when I look over my pictures, I remember what was being said while I was drawing it. My notes are completely useless to anyone but me, but I can bring them to tests because they don't have the answers to the questions. They're just reminders."

"That is completely mental." Ron deadpanned, and Dante merely shrugged.

"It works for me anyway. Maybe try it. Draw something different every day though, then they'll be a reminder for each lecture. You do have to pay attention, though."

"Still completely mental, but I'll give it a go."

"What about you, Harry? Try it?"

"Why would we do that when we're friends with the two best students in our year?" Harry asked.

"What happens if the two of us end up in the Hospital Wing? You two will be out of luck. I bet if something like that happens, it'll be during the end of term exams."

"Don't joke about that!" Hermione moaned. "I simply can't miss exams like that!"

"Well, Hermione, I'll tell you what McGonagall told me without exaggerating this time."

"What?"

"If we keep up with our performance, we'd be able to pass our O.W.L.s in third year rather than the end of fifth."

"Stop lying!" Hermione commanded.

"No word of a lie. Ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

Harry and Ron sniggered to themselves. Dante looked up at them confused. "What's the joke?"

"You, mate." Harry said. "We're corrupting you."

"Corrupting me?"

"The way you talk. You keep getting more British every day."

"I can't help it! I'm stuck with you lot all the time now, aren't I?" Dante said, getting frustrated.

Harry and Ron just laughed and Ron spoke up, "What will your mum think when you get home? She won't even recognise you!"

"Oh God…" Dante sighed. "That does remind me of something though. I need to speak to McGonagall or Dumbledore about maybe arranging something so you guys can visit sometime, or me visit you."

"Or how you'll be getting there." Hermione added.

"Portkey." Dante said.

"Wussat?" Ron asked through a mouthful of food. Dante saw the disgusted look on Hermione's face before it was quickly schooled.

"Just a thing enchanted to transport people to a set destination."

"So you can apparate?" Ron said incredulously.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Obviously not. That's why he has to use the object. It can be anything, really. It could be an old boot. Someone just has to enchant it to go to a certain location at a certain time."

"I want to ask them if I can get Portkeys for the three of you sometime so you can come over. I'm sure you'd like to get away from the Dursleys, Harry."

"I'm staying here for Christmas, though."

"Well for the summer then. Ron, Hermione, I'm sure you two would be welcome to visit over the holiday break. But Ron, you'll have to come up with some muggle story about what your family does if you want to come over. The extended family isn't in on the secret that I'm a wizard."

"I'd be happy to come if my parents allow it." Hermione said brightly. "We're meant to be going skiing in France though. I'm not sure when I'd be able to fit a visit in."

"My parents are going to visit my brother, Charlie in Romania. He's studying dragons there. I'll be staying here as well."

"Oh. That's... That's fine, maybe over the summer, then." Dante said sheepishly. He wanted to hide his disappointment about this desperately. '_Of course they already have plans.'_ He thought.

"Of course!" Hermione said cheerfully. "You and Harry both have birthdays in summer, right? I'd be happy to be there for both of your birthdays."

"July 3rd." Dante said.

"July 31st." Harry said, looking darkly at his plate of food. "You might not want to come over for my birthday."

"Why not?" Ron said.

"Dursleys." Harry muttered.

"Then you come over in the middle of July and we'll share a birthday! I'll have mine later than it is and you'll get it early."

"Thanks, I'll see how things go come summer."

"Well," Said Hermione, slipping into a business tone. "Harry, if you're going to be here for Christmas you should do some more research in the library on Nicholas Flamel."

"We've looked a hundred times!" Ron said.

Hermione stood up to leave, "Not in the Restricted Section." She smiled. "I have to go pack. Happy Christmas."

"I think we've had a bad influence on her." Ron said darkly.

* * *

Dante had his trunk packed and dragged it to onto the train with Hermione. He'd managed to get a pair of Portkeys for Hermione to use to allow her a one night stay in America, but she still needed permission from her parents to allow her to stay. "I promise that I'll talk to my parents about coming to visit. It'll take too long for me to get a letter to you so if I can't make it I'll have a letter come with the Portkey to explain."

Dante smiled. "I want to look for some sort of notebooks that would let us write to each other without owls. It would certainly help me talk to you over the summer."

"I've heard of those. They only work in pairs so you'd have to have one for each of us. I think they're expensive, though. It might be cheaper for you to call the telephone internationally."

The journey to London on the train was cheerful. Dante had insisted to Professor Dumbledore that he wanted to take the train every time to and from school so he could spend more time with his friends. When they got to the muggle platform, Hermione's parents were waiting for her and she gave him a rib-cracking hug, assuring him that she would miss him and see him soon.

Dante wheezed a bit after the hug and her parents came to greet them. "Hermione! It's good to see you!" Her mother squealed. "And who is your friend that you just tried to squeeze the life out of?"

Hermione blushed. "This is Dante, we met on the train at the start of term."

Hermione's mother gave her a knowing look then turned to face him. "Dante, how wonderful to meet you. Hermione has told us loads about you." She turned back to Hermione and said, "I'll be right back, dear. I just want to have a quick word with your friend."

She led Dante away from Hermione and spoke quietly to him. "Thank you for being so kind to her. She told me about you coming to talk to her after that boy said those nasty things about her."

"It's no problem, Mrs. Granger. Hermione and I were already pretty good friends when that happened."

"I'm sure she's told you by now that she hasn't really had any friends before you. I just want you to know that I really appreciate you being kind to her. I know that she can be a bit… much sometimes, but she always means well."

"Has she told you that I've invited her to visit over the holiday, yet?"

"She's mentioned, but we're going to France, dear. I don't know how we'll be able to get her to America."

"She has a way to get herself there and back after a day. I don't have much time to explain because mine is going to take me away any minute. She can explain to you, though." It was only half a lie; his Portkey was scheduled to depart in about two hours. He wanted the extra time so he could go to Diagon Alley and buy some Christmas presents for his new friends.

"Well alright, we'll talk to her about it. You're welcome to visit anytime, too."

"Thanks, Mrs. Granger." With that, she led them back to Hermione, who was looking a bit confused, but Dante walked up to her and gave her a hug this time. "I'll see you soon. Bye, Hermione."

His trip walking to Diagon Alley was longer than he expected, and he only had about forty minutes when he arrived. He stopped at Flourish and Blotts' to buy a book for Hermione, _Simple Healing Charms for the Bright._ A Puddlemore United Quidditch robe for Harry, and a new wizard chess set for Ron. He barely managed to pay for the chess set when his Portkey began to whistle, signaling its imminent departure. He grabbed hold of it in his pocket, and with a strange jerk behind his navel was sent spinning through space. As quickly as it started, it was over and he was facing the front door of his house in Ohio. While it was dusk when he left Diagon Alley, here it was broad daylight.

Checking to make sure that nobody was around to have seen him appear out of nowhere, he dragged his trunk up the rough stone steps to the door and pushed it open. His mother was in the dining room when he opened the door and smiled at him. "Dante! Welcome home!" She ran over to him and hugged him, noticing him wincing at the hug she pulled back. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Dante chuckled, "Just a bit sore after the last hug I got. I swear Hermione was trying to break my ribs."

"Hermione gave you a hug?" Her eyebrows shot up and she smirked. "Do you have a girlfriend at school already?"

"NO! No it's not like that at all. She's just a friend."

She laughed and gave him a playful shove. "I'm only teasing. Your dad will be here soon, he's just at work."

"Right. Time zone difference."

"What is this thing you're dragging around? And your shopping bags! Where did you go?"

"I bought Christmas presents for my friends. I might be able to give Hermione hers before going back to school. She needs to see if it's alright with her parents to come over for a day. Oh and this." He pointed at his trunk. "Is my trunk that has my school things and clothes in it."

"How will she get here if she comes?"

"Same way I did. I gave her a pair of objects. One will send her here on the 28th at 9 AM her time so… She'd get here at about 4 in the morning. The other will take her back the same time next day. She told me if she can't come, she'll write a letter send it along instead of her to explain why she can't make it."

Dante's mother smiled. "I hope she can get here, we'd love to meet your best friend. Everything you've told us so far sounds nice. How are you doing in school? How are your grades? You haven't told us that much."

Dante grinned at the question. "Hermione and I are top of every class."

"You're kidding!"

"I am not! She's only better than me in Charms and Potions, we have the same grades everywhere else."

"I'm so proud of you! Keep it up, I don't know what kind of jobs you can get in the magical world but I bet being top of the class every year will be a big help. Now! Show me what all you bought! I never got to see any of the school supplies that you needed."

Dante pulled his wand out of his robe pocket and held it out for his mother to examine it. "Mr. Ollivander said that this is made out of mahogany." He liked seeing the awestruck look on her face when she saw all of his things.

* * *

Christmas came and went and tonight was when Hermione would be coming to visit, if she had at all. From his parents, he got another hundred dollars to convert to Galleons as spending money as well as a fine leather bound journal. He started thinking of trying to bewitch the journal to be able to send messages, but he would need to do some research in the library for that and they already were working on trying to find out more information on Flamel.

His alarm went off fifteen minutes to four and he quickly got dressed. He then scrambled downstairs to watch the area in front of his house, waiting impatiently. Two minutes and he would find out. One minute. Any second.

There was a bright blue ball of light that flashed and vanished. In its place stood a young bushy haired witch and Dante couldn't be more pleased to see her. He got up and wrenched the door open to bid her inside. All of the noise he'd made getting ready must have woken his parents who blearily made their way down to see Dante and Hermione talking in the living room. Each had a wrapped parcel in their lap and they looked up at the adults with shy smiles. His father spoke up, "You must be Hermione. Dante's been telling us that you might show up."

"Yes, sorry if we woke you, Mr. Monte. Perhaps we should have been a bit more quiet." She directed that last bit at Dante and it had a hint of a scolding in the tone.

"Oh, I do apologize for being excited to see my best friend." Dante said in mock annoyance.

Mrs. Monte rushed forward to give Hermione a hug, welcoming her and asking if she would like anything to drink. After the adults had left to wake themselves up, Dante and Hermione exchanged gifts.

"Am I _that_ easy to buy for?" Hermione asked, noticing that her gift must be a book.

Dante smirked. "If you didn't spend all of your free time at the library then I would have a harder time deciding what to get you." He opened his gift to see that it was also a book. _Introduction to Dueling: Technique and Tactics_. "Oh my, Hermione!" He gasped. "Thanks!"

She glowed at the praise and opened hers. "Oh this is perfect! Now when you get bloodied up in a duel, I'll be able to fix you!"

He blushed at that and just then his parents came back with a tray of biscotti and muffins, and held out a cup of coffee to each of them. Dante's older sister, Megan, now came downstairs to see what all the commotion was. Her eyes lingered on the book that he had in his lap and spoke. "_Introduction to Dueling_? Why would you be dueling?"

"There's a dueling club at school open to second years and above. I was thinking of joining when I got a chance."

"Why is there a club for fighting at a school?"

"It's not like a fight that we would have at a school here, it's more like a sport."

Mr. Monte laughed. "Dante willingly getting involved in a sport? I'll eat my socks when that happens."

"Better start looking for recipes with socks in them." Dante said with a sly grin. "I'm going to join the dueling club."

"Why dueling though? Why not join Quidditch like your friend, Harry?" Mrs. Monte asked.

"Everyone keeps pointing out that my wand is a duelist's wand. Mr. Ollivander told me that the wand chooses the wizard, so if a dueling wand chose me then I might have a knack for dueling. Also I'm terrible at flying on broomstick. I don't mind the heights, I just don't have much control over the broom."

Megan finally made her way down the rest of the steps and introduced herself to Hermione. She looked nearly identical to him just with a decidedly more female physique. "I'm Megan. His older sister. Let me know if he ever does something stupid, I'll make sure he knows not to do it again."

Hermione laughed. "Pleasure to meet you. I don't think you need to worry though, if he does something foolish then he'll have to answer to me first. I do enjoy scolding him." She said with a mischievous grin on her face.

Dante was blushing furiously as his family laughed. Mr. Monte clapped him on his back, "She's already got you whipped, hasn't she?"

"Don't be ridiculous." He looked round. "I thought I was going to have a nice time with a friend of mine and you lot are just here laughing at me."

"'You lot?'" Megan repeated incredulously. She then put on a faux British accent, "Terribly sorry for embarrassing you Dante. I do hope that you will forgive us."

"Why are you talking like you're British, Dante?" Mrs. Monte asked.

"I… I dunno. I just fell into the habit of talking the same way. I'm not doing it on purpose."

"I noticed him doing it first. Halloween he'd come to talk to me and he'd mocked something I'd said on the train first day."

"You mocked your girlfriend? You're lucky to be alive after that!" Megan said, grinning.

The two Hogwarts students sat blushing a furious crimson and spluttered. "No that's not… We're not…"

Dante regained his composure and said. "On the train… She was helping a boy named Neville look for his pet toad that he'd lost. She opened the compartment that Harry, Ron and I were sitting in and when she saw who Harry was…" He looked over at Hermione, who glared at him. "'Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter!'"

"Once again I refuse to apologize for not being crass." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Mocking a witch of a girlfriend, too. That's got to be a faux pax." Megan said with a smirk.

Hermione ignored the insinuation this time. "How old are you, Megan? Dante's never mentioned."

"14. My birthday was a week before Christmas."

"What is school like here? I know Dante was supposed to go to your…" She thought for a moment. "Middle school this year but neither of us will be going back to that sort of education."

"It's nothing special. Sometimes we'll have a field trip somewhere exciting but nowhere near as exciting as a magic castle. I'm in 8th grade now so towards the end of the school year I'm going on a trip to visit Washington D.C."

"I've traded not going on a trip to Camp Muskingum... Wherever that is… for going to Hogwarts where we have no field trips. I think I got the better end of the bargain."

"I'm jealous." Megan said angrily. "Why am I not a witch?"

"You're as foul as one." Dante said.

After the sun rose, the kids all went outside to enjoy the snow. A fierce snowball fight raged with the occasional accidental magic to throw some excitement into the mix. All too soon, It was time for Hermione's Portkey back home. After she looked around to make sure that no one, not even Dante's family was around, perhaps especially them, she gave him another fierce hug. Her Portkey began to whistle and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she vanished.


	5. Year 1 Chapter 5

She kissed him. She had **kissed** him! Hermione Granger had bestowed upon him a _kiss_! Grinning stupidly with a fierce blush, Dante made his way back inside to the knowing smirks of his parents and sister. "Nothing happened." He said automatically.

"Should I start helping to plan the wedding?" Megan piped up. "Were you thinking in a chapel?"

"Absolutely not!" Dante hissed, then schooled himself. "The beach would be much better."

"What's the term for someone like you? Having non-magic parents?"

"Muggleborn."

"Dante Monte and Hermione Granger. Two muggleborns in love!" Megan cackled.

"Where's your boyfriend, Megan? Or are you so repulsive that nobody pays you mind?"

The train back to Hogwarts was quite pleasant. He and Hermione had a compartment to themselves again and were still looking through their Christmas gifts. The book that Hermione had given him was immensely detailed about how to focus the mind on the duel and what stances to be in to ensure that you were loose and able to dodge in any direction. Later in the book, it described vital spells for a friendly duel such as Protego, Stupefy, Expelliarmus, and Impedimenta. The book described these spells in great detail and Dante made a mental note to practice them when he got a chance. Imagine how good an impression he'll make in the dueling club next year when he already knows how to perform Shield Charms and Stunners.

He knew that he'd done well with Hermione's gift as well. He'd taken a while in the shop to skim through the book and it was at least as helpful in its subject as the book he was studying. He decided it would be nice to break the silence between them, "Hermione?"

"Hmm?" She said, not looking up from her book.

"I'm… I'm glad you could make it to my house the other day."

"Oh, of course!" She said smiling and looking up. "I had a wonderful time there. I hope you like your present."

"As you can see, I am fully enjoying it." He paused and smirked. "I fully enjoyed both of the presents you gave me." A small voice in his head muttered 'smooth' appreciatively.

Hermione blushed and said, "I'm glad."

For the first time, Dante lifted his eyes from the floor. They went to her face, and then, very slowly, found her eyes. They didn't scare him for some reason. These eyes were kind.

"You're looking me in the eyes." Hermione said in a small voice.

"I am. I don't know why, it just…" His voice trailed off then he changed tack. "They're brown."

"They are, and so are yours." Hermione said with a grin.

"Yours have little gold flecks in them."

"Do they? I've never seen that." She blushed again and turned away. "Are you still uncomfortable with it?"

"Not with you. I don't know why, though."

She got up and crossed over, then wrapped her arms around him again. It wasn't the bone crushing hug that she normally gave, but gentle. He hugged her back when the door opened.

"Ugh, look at the both of you."

Dante groaned and pulled away. "To what…" He forced his eyes to meet Draco's this time. "Do we owe the pleasure, Draco?"

"We fancied a fight now that Potter and Weasel-bee aren't here to protect you."

"And why would we be fighting, exactly?"

"Because I don't like the lot of you."

"Brilliant. We're terribly busy, though. Perhaps another time."

"Oh, but I insist." Draco said, stepping forward into the compartment and drawing his wand. Dante saw Hermione draw hers as well as Crabbe and Goyle.

Dante sighed. "Fine." Then drew his own wand. He quickly thought to how the book described Stunning Spells and focused on that. "Whenever you're ready, Draco."

"Rictusempra!" Draco called out, pointing at Dante. He ducked out of the way and quickly pointed at Draco.

"Stupefy!" A red bolt of light shot from Dante's wand and hit Draco square in the face. He crumpled to the floor and didn't move for a few seconds. Crabbe and Goyle just stared at him. He looked up at the pair of them and pointed his wand again. "Go. Now."

They dragged Draco to his feet and ran away down the corridor. Hermione kept staring at him. "What?"

"Dante… That's a fifth year spell." Hermione said with a touch of admiration in her voice. He liked that very much.

"Is it? It's in this book you gave me."

"You've had the book for less than a week! That had to be the first time you've used that spell."

"Yeah it was."

"And what? You just know how to do it after looking at it in a book one time?"

"Maybe I'm a quick study?"

"I think Mr. Ollivander was right about you needing a dueling wand. It must be just a natural talent for you."

The door slid open again and this time the Weasley twins came in. "I thought you stayed at the castle." Dante said.

"And miss the chance to see some dragons?" Asked Fred.

"Never." Said George.

"We've heard something very interesting though." Said Fred.

"Something about Malfoy being stunned by a first year."

"Stupefy was the spell that we'd heard been used."

"By a first year."

This time the twins spoke at the same time. "You two wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"I stunned him." Dante said.

"You?" They replied. "Second best you? Surely not."

"Would you like me to stun the pair of you?"

"Try it!" Fred said, grinning.

"Stupefy!" Dante yelled, and another bolt of red light shot from his wand. This time it hit Fred in the chest and he too crumpled to the floor.

"Blimey." Said George, "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Only the second time I've used that spell." Dante shrugged and Fred began to stir.

"Bloody brilliant!" Fred cheered. "Allow us to properly invite you to the Gryffindor Dueling Club!"

"I'm a first year."

"A first year that can use that spell, we'd be stupid not to take you in!"

"Were you not already?" Hermione said cheekily.

"Oy!" The twins said in outrage then turned to Dante. "If McGonagall let Harry join the Quidditch team first year then she'll let you join the Dueling Club. Especially if she knows that you can stun already."

"I still don't understand how you can do it so easily." Hermione said.

"Try stunning me, Hermione." Dante said.

"Okay, are you sure?"

"Positive." He spread his arms wide to make himself a big target and Hermione pointed her wand at him.

"Stupefy!" She yelled and a bolt of red light hit him in the chest. He staggered backwards, but regained his footing and stood up straight.

"See? You can do it, too! It can't be that hard."

"But look at what you did to Malfoy and Fred... or George… or whichever one? You knocked them unconscious!"

Fred spoke up. "What do you say, Dante? If McGonagall says yes, will you join the club?"

"Yeah if she'll let me."

"Brilliant. We'll leave you two lovebirds to it." George said and left the compartment, two bright red faces in their wake.

"Why does everyone think we're dating?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno. We do spend a lot of time together, even more than with Harry or Ron. I do like you but I don't really know what I'm meant to do about that exactly."

"I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet. You've been so nice though. Maybe we will someday."

"I bet I'd like that." Dante said and his eyes met Hermione's again. "Like you say though, I don't think I'm ready for it."

"That's okay. We're still great friends."

"The best." Dante said and she beamed at him. "I got a present from my mum-" She giggled. "What?"

"Your 'mum!'"

"My _mom_ and I thought I might do some experiments on it." He pulled out the leather bound journal and held it out to her. "I might try turning that into something that we can send messages in. Instead of buying my one of those journal pairs, I'll make one. Or perhaps..." He broke off to do the math in his head. "Six." He said after a second.

"Six?"

"Six pairs would mean that all four of us would be able to write to each other."

"So you'll be spending more time in the library working on this."

"And talking to McGonagall. I'm sure she'd be able to help."

* * *

"How was Christmas?" Harry asked when the pair of them climbed through the portrait hole.

"Excellent," Dante said, pulling out a parcel for Harry. "Yours?"

"It was brilliant, we didn't find much about Flamel though." Harry opened the present that Dante gave him. "Puddlemore United!" He looked at Dante, "Thanks, mate. Here, I wasn't able to get out of school to go shopping but I thought you'd like this." He gave Dante a bright red and orange quill. "It's an eagle quill but it's enchanted to look like a phoenix feather."

"It looks cool. Here, Ron, I got you something as well." Dante said, handing over the other parcel.

"What did you and Hermione get each other?" Ron asked with a grin.

"Books." Hermione said simply to which Harry and Ron howled with laughter.

Ron had opened his present now and grinned at Dante. "Mate, this is great!"

"What sort of books did you get?" Harry asked, accepting another present from Hermione.

"Well I bought her a book on healing charms, and she got me one for dueling. Speaking of which, I've been invited to join the Dueling club by Fred and George."

Harry opened the broomstick servicing kit that Hermione gave him and thanked her vigorously. "Why would they ask you to join the dueling club?"

"Probably something to do with him being able to use Stunning Spells." Hermione said.

"You what?!" Ron bellowed. "Since when can you do that?"

"Since today. Draco paid us a visit on the train and I stunned him. Oh and I learned it by doing a quick read through the book that Hermione bought me."

"Wicked. You'll have to teach us how to do it, and McGonagall is bound to let you in the club."

"Someone left me an Invisibility Cloak that my dad had. They only left a note saying that he'd left the cloak in their possession before he died and that I should use it well."

"They didn't say who it was?" Hermione asked.

"No, I used it to look in the Restricted Section but didn't get a chance to find anything useful about Flamel. I did find Snape threatening Quirrell, though. He was saying something about Quirrell not wanting him as an enemy and that he should figure out where his loyalties lie."

They spent the rest of the evening catching up on events in and out of the castle but before curfew, Dante got up to go to McGonagall's office. "Good evening, Mr. Monte. You're here a bit late. How can I help you?"

"I needed help with two things, actually."

She smiled at him. "Oh? What might those things be?"

"The first is that I'd hoped to join the dueling club."

"The dueling club is open to second years and above, Mr. Monte."

"I know, but I can already do some good spells for it. I've already used Stupefy twice and it worked both times for me."

"You've used it twice?"

"On the train here, Draco Malfoy stepped into my compartment and said he wanted to fight me. I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted so I stunned him. Later Fred and George heard about it and asked me to demonstrate so I stunned Fred."

"Of course you'll have to show me sometime but if you can already do that, I don't see why not. What was the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

"I want to make notebooks that will let me write to someone and them write back without owls. Probably notebooks in pairs."

"That is some advanced magic, but if you're already capable of fifth year spells, then maybe I can help you. As long as it does not interfere with your studies, do you understand?"

"Of course." Dante had a sudden thought. "Professor, do you know anyone called Nicholas Flamel?"

"Where have you heard that name?"

"That's the thing, I don't remember where I heard the name. It's just stuck in my head and I want to figure out who he is."

"Nicholas Flamel is an alchemist and he's the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone."

This was the lead that he'd been hoping for and decided to stop probing for information before she became too suspicious. "That's where I'd heard the name! I was going crazy trying to figure it out. Good night, Professor."

Dante bolted back to the common room as the others were heading up the stairs to their dormitories. "Harry, Ron, Hermione, I've got news!" Confused, they made their way back down to the couch in front of the great fireplace to see what he had to tell them. "I have a lead on Flamel!"

"What!" They all exclaimed.

"He's the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

"The what?" Harry and Ron said together.

"I don't know much about it, I just know that it has something to do with alchemy." Dante said. "Oh, and McGonagall said after she gets a chance to see me use a stunner then she'll let me in the Dueling Club."

"How did you find this out?" Harry asked.

"I don't know why we didn't think of it before but I just asked if McGonagall had ever heard the name Nicholas Flamel before. I said I'd heard it somewhere but couldn't for the life of me remember where I'd heard it. Now we have some new leads for what to look for in the library!"

"Brilliant!" Hermione beamed. "We really should get to bed now, though. Good night, boys."

Dante's dreams that night were filled with notebooks full of secret messages. Messages that only he could read and only he could send. Quite a few were from Hermione and he felt a rush of giddiness every time he got one.

* * *

During his first free period the next day, Dante went straight to the library to do some research on Protean Charms. Professor McGonagall had mentioned that they would allow the manipulation of one object to be reflected in the other. He selected a number of books and brought them over to Madam Pince to check out.

Madam Pince looked at him suspiciously when she saw the books he brought to her. "These books have spell work that's far too advanced for you, young man. Protean Charms are sixth year material."

"I just wanted to do some research on them Ma'am. Am I not allowed to take them?"

"You're allowed, but be warned. I doubt that you'll be able to understand half of what is in here. There's so much between now and when these would come up for you."

"I'll make sure to read carefully, then." Dante said before slipping the books into his bag and heading for Potions.

"Where have you been?" Ron hissed at him.

"Library, later."

"Blimey. First day back and you're already back to trying to read the whole library." Ron muttered under his breath, though not quietly enough for Professor Snape to not hear.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley. I won't have you interrupting my class. Oh, but do tell me what you were so interested in that wasn't the assignment that I have given you?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Go on, tell us, or it will be another twenty points and detention."

"I just asked where Dante was during free period, sir."

"Oh? And where were you, Mr. Monte?"

"The library, sir. I wanted to research Protean Charms."

"I see. Well of course now that you've ascended above us mere mortals, being capable of Stunning Spells at your age, you would think that you can do anything. I'm afraid, however, that you will focus on my class while you are here. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Another ten points from Gryffindor for your lack of focus on the task at hand." Snape said with a sneer and turned away.

Dante opened his mouth to protest but Hermione gave him a kick in the leg to stop him. He was so furious at the injustice that he didn't heed her warning. "Sir," he said in a deliberately calm voice, "If my performance in this class wasn't satisfactory, I would understand your concern." Snape stopped and glared at him. Hermione groaned while the rest of the class looked at him open-mouthed. "However, one could hardly call my Potions work lacking. Please bear that in mind when you feel the need to reprimand my lack of focus."

The room was deadly silent. "Mr. Monte, you will stay here after class. We need to decide how to deal with your insubordination. For now, you will receive a zero for the day. I will not accept any potion that you present me with to grade at the end of class. Sit down and do not speak unless spoken to. Is that clear?" Dante gave a mock salute and sat down to continue his work. "Why are you still brewing, Mr. Monte? I told you that I would not accept any potion that you give me today."

"I'm continuing to brew because I want to be sure that I know how to do it, sir. I can dispose of it if you like after I finish."

The end of class came and Dante filled a phial with his Calming Draught. When everyone left, Snape pulled Dante into his office. He grabbed some powder out of a flower pot and threw it into the fireplace. Bright green flames erupted in the fireplace and Snape shouted, "McGonagall! I want a word!"

A moment later, Professor McGonagall appeared in the fireplace and looked between Dante and Snape. "What can I do for you, Severus?"

"Your student here," he gestured towards Dante. "Made an outrageous display of insubordination in my class today."

"Is that true?" McGonagall said, looking sternly at Dante.

"No, Professor. He took points away from Gryffindor for my Protean research. I wasn't talking about it in class, it wasn't distracting me from my assignment, and I wasn't breaking any rules. Ron had just asked me where I was during free period. I didn't want to talk because I don't talk during classes. All I said was 'Library, later.' and Professor Snape told us that if we didn't say what I was doing then he would give detentions and take points away. When we did what he said, he took points anyway."

"What did you take points from my house for, Severus?"

"His lack of focus on my class. His 'Protean Research' is obviously a distraction for him."

"It is not a distraction, sir. I followed all instructions and even kept a sample of my potion to prove that I was paying attention." He produced the phial of Calming Draught.

"So you punished him for not paying attention in class, but not only was he, but he continued to brew this potion even after you told him that you would give him a zero for it."

"Minerva, I-" McGonagall cut him off.

"Grade it." She ordered. "We shall see if he's paying attention in your class or not."

Professor Snape poured out the potion and began muttering incantations. "It's acceptable." He growled.

"Is there anything wrong with it, Severus?"

"No. He followed every instruction." He grumbled.

"Good. I expect the points that you took for his apparent lack of attention to be restored."

"His insubordination!" He snapped.

"You mean him telling you that he was, in fact, paying attention in class and that what he does outside your classroom has nothing to do with you? He's quite right. Restore the points, Severus."

Snape looked mutinous and finally said. "Fine, Mr. Monte, I will not tolerate any displays like what you did in my class again. Since you haven't broken any rules, your points and only your points are restored. Mr. Weasley's loss of points remains. Get out of my office."

Dante didn't need telling twice, he got up quickly and walked as quick as he could short of running up out of the dungeons. The further he got from Snape, the harder it was for him to fight the grin that was working its way onto his face. He caught up with the other three on their way to lunch and by this time he couldn't hold back his mischievous grin.

"How much trouble are you in?" Harry asked.

"None. McGonagall made him give my points back and grade my potion."

"You're kidding!" Ron said.

"You're lucky." Hermione said. "Why did you fall for his bait? That was what he wanted from you!"

"It was not, he wanted me to lose my temper and use obscene and profane language. Everything I said was perfectly reasonable. He hated it."

"So what were you in the library for? More about Flamel?"

"No, I wanted to do research something else so we'd be able to talk over the summer without you lot having to send me owls. It would take ages for them to get to me and back so I want a faster way."

"You are mental, you know that?" Ron said, disapprovingly. "You're already the top of nearly every class and you take on more work! It's not healthy."


	6. Year 1 Chapter 6

When Dante arrived in the Dueling Hall the first weekend after break, Professor McGonagall was waiting for him. She wanted to see for herself that he could use stunners and wanted to let him join as quickly as possible after he'd proven himself. Hermione came with him to see how well he would do while Harry and Ron were off for Quidditch practice. Fred and George were there, too so Dante needed someone else to demonstrate his abilities on. Hermione sat down on a bench to watch as Professor McGonagall looked around for a suitable opponent for Dante.

"Mr. McLaggen! Step forward, please." Professor McGonagall called out. Cormac McLaggen was a second year Gryffindor with a reputation for having an enormous head. He had short dirty blonde curls and an impressive jaw for a twelve year old. "Stand there. Mr. Monte will try to stun you and if he succeeds then he is in the club."

"Professor, why am I not allowed to defend myself?"

"Because Mr. Monte may not know much in the way of defensive spells. I've only heard of him using Stupefy."

"It's fine, Professor. I want to see if I can manage it, if that's alright."

"Very well. Take your positions, both of you." Dante and Cormac stood thirty feet from one another and raised their wands. Hermione looked on apprehensively while the rest of the club looked eagerly at the scene. "Ready? On the count of three, then. One… Two… Three!"

"Everte Statum!" Cormac bellowed, shooting a golden bolt of light at Dante.

"Protego!" Dante cried and the bolt was stopped a foot away from him. Not wanting to waste time, he yelled "Stupefy!" and hit Cormac in the chest. He fell to the floor and didn't get up.

"Excellent! Excellent!" McGonagall said. "I see no reason why you shouldn't join the club. Was this your first duel?"

"Yes it was."

"You're a natural!" McGonagall chuckled, then she looked over at Cormac, who was still unconscious on the floor. She pointed her wand at him and said, "Ennervate!" Then Cormac began to stir.

"I want another go!" Cormac said angrily.

"You'll get your chance, Mr. McLaggen. He's in the club now, you two will probably spar many times. Unless of course he outclasses you, which given that he already knows those spells, he most likely will."

Dante was glowing after winning his first ever duel and from the praise that McGonagall was giving him. She turned back to him again. "Mr. Monte, I need to explain the rules of dueling in and out of this club before we proceed. In any regulated duel, the duelists must agree on the terms of engagement. Here the only rule that everyone must abide by is to not use curses that cause permanent harm. Aside from that, any spell that you can think of is acceptable. Outside of this room, should you challenge another person to a duel, you have the option to forgo this rule only if both of you agree to it. After agreeing to whatever terms you set, you shake hands with your opponent and request that a teacher officiate the duel. Professor Flitwick is particularly fond of dueling so he would be your best bet for that role. When the duel begins, you will face each other, present your wands, then bow to each other. After the bow, you will stand thirty feet apart and the official will tell you when to begin. It will end when one of you surrenders, is disarmed, or incapacitated. Any questions?"

Dante was absorbing all of this information readily. "No, Professor. That covers everything for me." He looked up at her with a grin, but his eyes weren't on hers. He still didn't feel comfortable with eye contact in general so looked at her forehead, instead.

"Welcome to the Dueling Club, Mr. Monte." She said with a smile and swept out of the room.

He headed over to Hermione, who was still seated on her bench. His eyes met hers again and he had a winning smile. "I'm in!"

She beamed at him, "I knew you would get in!"

Dante sat down next to her. He couldn't seem to get enough of her company. "Thanks." He paused. "For being here, and again for the book. I'll teach you how to duel once I actually know what I'm doing."

She smiled at him. "Of course I would be here. You're my best friend." She hesitated, then lifted her arm and put it around his shoulder. He flinched but didn't back away. "You'll be a great wizard, Dante."

Dante blushed at her touch. "You'll be a great witch. Don't forget that you do better than me in nearly everything else, Hermione." He looked away for a moment and then put his arm around her. "I'm really happy."

"You found something that you excel at. You should be happy."

"No, not that. I'm happy you're here. I wanted to ask-" He was cut off by a voice.

"Dante! Come here, I need to train you a bit so you can duel properly." It was some third year Ravenclaw that he'd never met.

"Sure thing, I'll be right over." He called out. He turned back to Hermione. "I want to talk to you in private when we get a chance. If that's alright, that is."

"Of course! Go then, I'll be waiting for you."

The rest of the Dueling Club hour went very well for Dante; he'd learned quickly how to dodge and to cast spells while dodging. In the end, he'd won six duels and lost eight. Not too bad in his mind for only ever dueling for one hour. Everyone was leaving now and Hermione got up to meet him on his way out. They still had another hour before Harry and Ron would come back from the Quidditch pitch and while they walked out of the Dueling Hall, Dante spoke up. "Do you… Fancy a walk to the library?"

She giggled, the same giggle she gave whenever Dante said something in a British dialect. "I think I would fancy a walk." She said when the giggles subsided.

He'd had a little while to think about his feelings for her since their talk on the train. He didn't feel ready to be her boyfriend at the time, but during the week he could think of little else when they spent time together. After a small bit of self-reflection, he knew that he wanted to be with her. He realized that she was the only one he felt safe with. She was the only person who's eyes he could meet. He still hadn't brought his gaze to Harry or Ron. He hadn't looked into his own parents' eyes in years, yet here was Hermione, and he couldn't look away from her eyes when they talked.

They made their way up to the library and sat down at a table in an empty aisle. Hermione reflexively reached up to pick a random book from a shelf and set it on the table in front of her. She did this almost every time they went to the library, it was a novel way for her to learn something new. Dante himself started doing it and found quite a few books that he couldn't make anything out of, the information within was so far beyond where he was in school that he had no reference points to go on. This time, he didn't much feel like indulging on this hobby. He had more important things on his mind. He looked over and saw that she hadn't opened her book and was looking expectantly at him. "What did you want to talk about, Dante?"

He hesitated, he couldn't quite meet her eyes this time, how do you go about having this conversation? A slight feeling of lightheadedness threatened to overwhelm him. _'I'm a Gryffindor.' _He thought. _'I'm supposed to be brave.'_ He steeled himself and spoke in a voice that didn't quite sound like his own. "I, uh, I like spending time with you." He took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm himself down again. "I… I really like you, Hermione. You've been the nicest person to me this whole time and I…" His voice trailed away before he managed to control himself again. "I really like spending time with you, just the two of us, you know?" He took another steadying breath. "I know that I said that I'm not ready for anything serious on the train, but I can't not think about it. I, er, I would like to be more than friends with you. If you'll have me, that is."

"I like being together, too, Dante. Our friendship is definitely different than what we have with Harry or Ron. They might have saved our lives from that troll, but you came first to help me. You didn't care what anyone else thought of me and still wanted to be my friend. You've always been so kind to me even when I didn't feel like I deserved it. It means a lot to me." She stopped and looked thoughtful. "I've never really fancied anyone before so I don't know what it feels like. Have you?"

Dante just shook his head, then looked into Hermione's eyes again. It was getting easier for him to do it, and he liked seeing her reaction to him looking at her that way. "Never before, no. Though, I fancy you, Hermione." He reached out and placed his hand over hers, she didn't flinch or back away.

"Are we… Are we dating now?" Hermione asked timidly.

"I think that's up to you. You could say 'no' and that'd be okay."

She turned her hand over and held onto his. "I don't want to say no." She said in a small voice. "I don't know what all I should do as a girlfriend, though."

"I don't know what to do as a boyfriend." Dante said, shrugging. "I get the feeling that we'll be okay, though. I don't expect to be making out with you right away."

She laughed and squeezed his hand a bit. "I don't reckon I want to be snogging just yet, but this," She gave another squeeze. "This is nice for me." She scooted closer to him and leaned on his shoulder. "I think we'll be alright, too. This whole year has been the happiest of my life. I'm really glad that I met you, Dante."

They sat, leaning against each other for a while and a small smile crept onto both of their faces. Dante didn't know if this was what love felt like, but whatever he was feeling he liked. He didn't want to let go of the witch and she didn't want to get up. Everything just felt right with the world and he wasn't about to change a thing. Truth be told, he thought Hermione was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen, and here she was cuddling up to him like he meant something to her. She wanted to spend her time with him over anyone else. The knowledge of this made him feel strangely giddy.

A familiar voice broke them out of their heads. "Do you two think it's weird how easily you work together?" Dante looked over his shoulder to see Harry there, wearing his Quidditch robes and a small smirk. "I mean, we're all only eleven and you two just… fit. I know I'm hardly one to talk about what's normal but you two definitely aren't it."

"I, er, I dunno. I just feel more comfortable around Dante." Hermione said. "I never stopped to actually think about it. And for your information, I'll be twelve in a month. February 12th."

"Harry, glad you're here. I'd like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Hermione Granger." Dante said with a cheeky grin. This earned him a jab in the ribs from the girl.

"You two have finally made it official, then? Were you not already before Christmas? You did invite her to your place."

"I recall inviting you as well, Harry Potter." Dante said, crossing his arms. "Did anyone get the idea that you were my boyfriend?"

The color drained from Harry's face, "No. I don't reckon anyone got that idea."

"I think I've read about something about people being extremely, er, compatible with each other. Once they learn to trust each other, they immediately fall, er… Nevermind. I'm sure it's nothing." Hermione trailed away with a blush and a pensive look about her.

"Right…" Dante said, unconvinced that this was nothing.

"Okay then, I think I'll see the pair of you in common room." Harry said, looking rather uncomfortable, before shifting out of the library.

"What's nothing, then?" Dante said as soon as he was sure that Harry was out of earshot.

Hermione was blushing furiously and didn't look prepared to answer. He took her hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's just that… I'd read about something called soul bonds. People who have a soul bond are quite literally soul mates and just…" She hesitated for a moment. "They fall in love easier than most people do. As soon as they begin to trust each other, they just keep getting drawn together."

"So what, do we have that?"

"I don't know for sure, Dante. It's possible, I suppose, but soul bonds are extremely rare."

"Would there be any way to find out?"

Somehow Hermione managed to blush an even deeper shade of red. "Yes. If we… If we, er, kissed. Properly, not like the kisses I've given you on your cheek."

The thought of kissing Hermione was definitely not a bad one in his mind. The only bad thoughts came from how she felt about it. What if he was a bad kisser? When was the last time he'd brushed his teeth? Did his breath smell bad? How do you know when to do it? _'Gryffindor'_ he thought to himself again. "I, uh, I wouldn't mind a simple test like that to find out."

She gave a nervous laugh and gave his hand a squeeze. Now she was leaning closer to him. Very close. He leaned closer to her and looked her in the eyes again. They were two inches apart now. Both of their eyes fluttered closed and then he felt her lips on his. They were soft and trembling out of nerves. Something inside him was feeling very warm. His heart was pounding in his chest, desperate to learn of whether she liked what was happening. Her lips began to move, doing more than just pressing against his own. He realized that he needed to do something similar and made to purse his. He was kissing Hermione and she was kissing him back. He felt… exhilarated. This felt right.

A soft breeze blew through the air around them. Wait, a breeze? They're in the library! Dante opened his eyes and broke away from Hermione in shock. There was a bright golden light between them and the air was swirling around them gently. Hermione was staring open-mouthed at the light before it faded away. She looked up at him again and spoke in a trembling voice. "Well, that answers that for us."

"What does this mean?" Dante asked, scratching the back of his head.

"It means that nobody else will ever feel right for us. Depending on your, er, priorities, it could either be a good or a bad thing that we found each other so early."

"How do you mean it could be a bad thing?"

"Well, neither of us will be able to date anyone else for the rest of our lives. It would be extremely painful. I, er, I've heard that a lot of people like to… like to test the waters and date quite a few people. That isn't an option for us anymore."

"We're, er, soul mates now, right?" Hermione nodded. "So why would we need to look any further? I'm still not interested in doing anything too… mature. I think kissing might be my limit for now."

Hermione made a strange choked noise before speaking "You're not embarrassed that it's with me?"

"Are you embarrassed that it's with me?"

"No, I meant what I said about you always being so kind." She flashed a cheeky smile and said "It doesn't hurt that you're quite cute as well."

"And I meant what I said. You aren't so bad on the eyes either, Hermione." Once again that small voice in his head muttered _'smooth'_ and he felt a little proud of himself. "Was there anything else that will happen after this?"

"We'll be able to draw on each other's magic and sense when the other is in danger. At least, we'll be able to do that eventually. Also we'll be able to enter each others' minds. We, er, won't be able to keep secrets from each other anymore."

"I won't pry into your mind if you don't want me to." He stopped for a moment and looked off into the distance, thinking. "I never knew that I'd have so much to learn. I was excited enough to learn that I was a wizard, that I'm a natural duelist, that I can pick up on almost any subject here without much effort. After I met you I set myself that project to make journals to be able to write to each other, that's going well by the way, and now I have yet another thing to learn about and it is the most exciting thing yet but it's also scary to me."

"I'm a little scared, too, but we'll figure this out together." She paused. "What do you mean the notebooks are going well?"

"I've figured out how to duplicate the notebook. I need to figure out the Protean stuff though. That's what will make them useful. Maybe you could help? You're better with Charms than I am."

"I'd be happy to help." She stood up and reached her hand down for him to take. "Come on, we should go up to common room." He took her hand and stood as well. They looked into each others' eyes again and gave each other a chaste kiss. This time, Dante noticed that she had to tilt her head down to him while he tilted his back. She was a little taller than he was, probably about three inches, but that didn't bother him. He'd gotten used to being rather short for his age; when he was in fifth grade, there were first graders taller than he was. Maybe he would pass her up in the coming years, though. He would be with her for years, that somehow didn't frighten him but comforted him. Here was someone that he could rely on to not leave.

He now knew that she was right about the soul bond. She had said that they would feel drawn together from the moment that they began to trust each other. He trusted her ever since Halloween, and that was when he started feeling more for her.

After their kiss, she led him hand-in-hand out of the library and up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. They made their way through the portrait hole into the common room and saw several faces smirking at them. Hermione spoke first, "Er, hi."

Fred and George spoke together, "Have you two finished snogging each others' faces off?"

"We were not _snogging_!" Dante said, angrily.

"Listen to the bloke, every day he adds new British words to his vocabulary." Angelina Johnson said with a smirk. "And obviously something happened. You two are red as tomatoes."

"If you must know, we only kissed." Hermione said furiously. "Although, I fail to see why it's any of your business." She finished with a huff and crossed her arms.

"Oh, so you admit it!" Harry heckled.

"I admit nothing of the sort." Dante said.

"I have to admit, he must have some _gravitas_ if he can woo someone at his age." Angelina said sagely.

"Oh you have no idea, Angelina." Dante said, fluttering his eyes.

"Harry, why haven't you asked me out yet?" Angelina said, turning to Harry.

Harry spluttered, "What? I didn't… You and I aren't... We..."

She just laughed. "Only teasing, mate." She turned back to Hermione and Dante. "Congratulations, you two." She said before standing up and heading up the stairs to the girls dormitory.

The twins looked back to Dante, "How'd the Dueling Club go, then?"

"I'm in!" Dante beamed.

"Knew you'd get it. Can't let Harry here have all the glory of being the only first year in a club."

"McGonagall had me duel McLaggen first and I dropped him in about five seconds."

"Brilliant!" The twins along with Harry and Ron all said.

"After I beat him I started dueling with a few others. My record in the club is now six wins to eight losses."

"Not bloody bad for a first year." Said Fred, clapping him on the back.

"I bet you'll be taking on fourth years before the end of the year!" George said.

"You should try not to be too overconfident though, Dante." Hermione said. "Treat everyone like they could beat you and you won't let your guard down when you duel them."

"I'll keep that in mind. For now, I'm just excited to make it in the club." He said, then added in an undertone. "Among other things."

Hermione smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said before walking up to her dormitory.

"What made you ask her out?" Ron asked.

"Dunno, just felt right. I was already feeling quite good about myself after the Dueling Club. Thought now was as good a time as any."

"Do you... Not normally?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Not normally what?"

"Feel good about yourself?"

He hesitated, these two were his friends. He needed to trust them, too. "No, not really. I, um, before I came here I never made friends before. Didn't have much to feel good about."

"You approached us on the train like it was nothing, though." Harry said.

"I got so used to people not wanting me around that I wasn't really afraid of it anymore. I expected you to ignore me before long." He thought for a moment. "The Sorting Hat thought I belonged here in Gryffindor because I was brave enough to keep trying to make friends."

"Well, we're your friends now." Ron said. "Sorry I was a git to your girlfriend before you started dating."

Dante chuckled. "S'fine. Now, not that I'm not enjoying this heart to heart, I'm rather tired." He said before going upstairs. It was a great day.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about all of the mistakes in the previous version of this chapter. I rushed it too much and the quality spoke for itself. Hermione's birthday canonically is apparently September 19th, but I don't remember seeing that anywhere in the books so I completely made her birthday up. I hope that her birthday not being canon isn't a deal breaker for the readers.


	7. Year 1 Chapter 7

Dante found that there were now two more people that he felt comfortable making eye contact with. Harry and Ron didn't back away after they'd heard about his lack of friends back home. They seemed nothing but supportive to him and for that he was grateful. They came to see his dueling when they weren't busy with Quidditch so he returned the favor and watched Harry's practices. Sometimes he would feel a twitch of bitterness, not towards his friends, but towards the world he left behind. If Harry, Ron, and Hermione were so eager to be his friend, why would nobody do it back home? It just didn't seem fair that he had to wait so long to have anything like friendship. These thoughts were always quickly stifled whenever he thought of Harry and Hermione, though. They, too, never had friends before Hogwarts. They knew exactly what he felt like.

His relationship with Hermione was rather more intellectually stimulating than even he suspected. Their free time was spent in the common room reading together on one of the couches. She would lay into him and read, and he would absently stroke her free hand while he would read something else. Sometimes, Hermione would place a bookmark and switch books with Dante, making them read each other's books. He learned a lot about charms from her doing this, and he suspected that she learned a lot about defensive spells.

Easter hols were approaching. The students in the years above were getting tense about their upcoming exams, but Dante wasn't worried. He never was a nervous tester and knew that he would do fine. Hermione on the other hand was a nervous wreck and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. On more than one occasion, he'd pointed out that she was consistently better than he was in classes so she shouldn't worry herself. He'd point out that McGonagall thought they could pass O.W.L.s in third year, but somehow this only made Hermione even more anxious. Whenever she was feeling particularly afraid of the exams, Dante would feel some of that fear, too. This, he supposed, must be from their bond.

Finally, after a particularly nasty bout of fear from her, Dante suggested that the four of them go and see Hagrid. The suggestion was met by eager approval from Harry and Ron, and protests from Hermione. "I need to study!" She moaned.

"No, you need to relax." The three boys said at once.

"Hermione, you're the best in our year. If anyone deserves time to relax, it's you. Let's go." Dante said with an air of finality.

"But…"

"Now!" Dante said, getting more than a little frustrated at her anxiety. He hooked his arm around hers and marched her down to the grounds. Once they were outside the castle, she finally resigned herself to a day off studying.

"All righ' you four?" Hagrid said, beaming at the four first years and bidding them inside.

"Yeah, we just needed a break from studying." Dante said.

"Dunno why you or Hermione would need to be studyin', from what I hear the pair of yeh' have the entire year memorized." Hagrid grumbled while setting mountainous servings of treacle tart in front of them.

"Hagrid," Harry asked. "I was wondering where you got that dragon's egg before Christmas."

"I won it!" Hagrid said proudly. "Down at the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade. The bloke seemed quite glad to be rid of it to be quite honest."

"Did you ever see his face?" Ron asked.

"Naw, he kept his hood up. Not that odd in the Hog's Head, mind. Get a lot of strange folk there. He was interested in what I do here as gamekeeper. Wanted to know if I could raise a dragon, but then I told him, I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him, Take Fluffy, for example. Play him a bit of music and he'll fall straight to sleep!' " Hagrid's eyes widened in shock. "I shouldn't have told you tha'..."

"Was that man interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do yeh' come across a three headed dog, even in the trade?"

"This treacle tart is delicious, Hagrid." Dante said uncomfortably.

"I'll send yeh' away with some." Hagrid said happily.

"Thanks." Dante managed to choke out, the tart was starting to glue his jaws shut.

"We'd best be going." Harry said. "We fancied a walk along the lake, just wanted to drop in and say 'hello.'"

"Oh, all righ' then. Enjoy the rest o' yer day off!" Hagrid said and the four of them got up and walked out with plenty of goodbyes.

Once they were away from Hagrid's hut, Ron spoke up. "So Snape knows how to get past two of the defenses for the Stone, then."

"I don't suppose any of you know how to play any instruments? He said play a bit of music and Fluffy will fall asleep." Dante said, looking a bit bashful.

"No, mate. Dursleys didn't take too kindly to any hobbies that I might have." Harry said, shrugging.

"Never really saw the point in learning any instruments, to be honest." Ron said.

"I can play the piano, but that won't be much help, will it?" Hermione said.

"I can play something…" Dante said. "I don't think it will be much better than the piano."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Oh, what do you play?"

Dante mumbled something that the others couldn't hear.

"Come again? Didn't quite catch that." Harry said.

"Accordion."

"You play the accordion?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I _am_ Italian." Dante said defensively.

"You're American." Harry retorted with a smirk.

"Italian heritage." Dante said. "What kind of name do you think 'Dante' is?"

"Never thought of it." Harry confessed. "Were you named after someone?"

"After a 14th century Italian author. Dante Alighieri. Wrote a long poem about going into hell, then climbing Purgatory, then ascending through heaven. My parents just liked the poem so they named me after him." He explained. "Alighieri is my middle name."

"What can you play on the accordion?" Hermione asked.

"I, er, don't know many songs that were meant to be played on it. For the most part, I'll play by ear something that was originally on the violin or piano. I can play Clair de Lune on it among other… things."

"Well," Harry said excitedly. "We have a way past Fluffy!"

"I didn't bring my accordion to school, Harry."

"Easter hols, Dante." Ron said. "Go home and get it!"

"I don't want anything to happen to it. I'm worried that I might break it if I bring it here."

"How much did your accordion cost?" Harry asked.

Dante once again mumbled something that the others couldn't hear.

"How much?"

"Twelve-hundred dollars." Dante muttered.

Hermione thought on that for a moment. "About two hundred Galleons." She said to Harry. "I thought they might be expensive."

"Dante, I promise you that if anything happens to your accordion then I will buy you a new one. I've got plenty in my trust vault at Gringotts. Can you bring it?"

"Okay, fine. I'll see if I can get it here."

"Brilliant!" Ron said. "I've never seen one before."

* * *

Dante walked up to the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office. "Is Professor Dumbledore in? I need to talk to him about getting Portkeys."

"Yes the headmaster is in, wait just a minute." The gargoyle said, then looked off into the distance. A moment later, it looked back at Dante "Yes he can see you now." It said before hopping off to the side.

Dante walked into the office and looked around. There were hundreds of strange silver instruments on spindle legged tables, making ticking noises and emitting puffs of multicolored smoke. Next to the headmaster's desk, a large perch stood and on it was a handsome scarlet and gold bird. The bird eyed him curiously as Dante approached the desk. "Hello." He said to the bird. "I'm Dante, you must be a Phoenix."

"That is correct, Mr. Monte." A voice said behind him.

Dante turned around to see the ancient form of Professor Dumbledore striding towards him. "Good evening, Professor."

"Good evening, Mr. Monte. Yes, Fawkes is a phoenix. Now, I don't believe that is why you are here. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" He asked kindly.

"I was hoping for Portkeys so I could go home for Easter."

"Ah yes, of course." He said, his eyes twinkling above his half moon spectacles. "I believe that Professor McGonagall has already advised that you don't visit home for Easter. Mr. Monte, you won't have much time at all over the weekend to spend with your family. Are you sure that you'd like to go? I know that your parents will understand."

"I'm sure. I've been with my family for every Easter, I'd rather not break that tradition. My grandma also makes something that she calls Easter Bread and it's delicious. I couldn't miss that."

Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Of course, I can only imagine how much you miss your family's cooking." He gave Dante another twinkling look. "What is it about the Easter Bread that you like?"

"My grandma bakes it with a spice called anise in the batter and makes icing for it that also has anise in it." Dante smirked. "I like anise, it tickles my fancy."

Professor Dumbledore let out a laugh. "Young man, you are fitting in here better than you know. Here, let me just make a pair of Portkeys for you." He pulled out his wand and opened a drawer on his desk. From the drawer he extracted a comb and a lint roller. He waved his wand over each, muttering incantations before each glowed a soft blue. "The roller takes you away while the comb brings you back. Enjoy your Easter, Mr. Monte."

* * *

He arrived once more in front of his doorstep in North Canton and looked around, checking to see if anyone saw his arrival. While he didn't see anyone out, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He was missing something important but couldn't think of what. He decided to ignore the feeling for now, thinking that he'd figure out what he was missing later. He dragged his trunk up the steps and pushed open the front door. "Hi mom."

"Dante! What are you doing here? I thought you would stay at school for Easter!"

"And miss the Easter Bread? Never."

"How are your friends at school?"

"They're good, I do have some… news about them."

"News? What kind of news?"

"Hermione and I… er, we're together now." Dante mumbled, looking at the floor.

Dante's mother squealed and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so happy for you! Wait 'til your dad hears about this, he'll be so happy."

"There's more." Dante said, still not looking up. "That book that she got me for Christmas came in handy."

The happy expression fell off his mother's face. "Why?"

"On the train back to school, one of the school bullies, well, actually three of them, came into my compartment wanting to fight. I tried to talk them out of it but they didn't want to leave so I fought them."

"You shouldn't be getting into fights at school, Dante." His mother said sternly.

"I know, but he wouldn't leave me alone. I'm not going around looking for a fight, but I won't let someone bully me. I won, by the way. He didn't even get a chance to hit me. I hit him with a spell in that book that knocked him out. Didn't hurt him, he just fell asleep for a few seconds. Apparently that was a fifth year spell that I'd used and after people heard that I could use it already, they invited me to the Dueling Club."

"I thought that you needed to be in second year to join."

"If someone is good enough in first year, they can join. Harry wasn't supposed to be able to join the Quidditch team but he was so good at it that they made an exception for him. The same goes for me in the Dueling Club. I've been beating people in third year so I'm pretty good at it."

"I just don't like you getting into fights, Dante. Please be careful."

"I promise, like I said; I don't go looking for fights, but if someone comes to me wanting to hurt me I won't just roll over."

"You've definitely changed a bit since you've gone to school there."

"I think it's because I have friends now. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all come to watch me in the club and that's nice."

"I'm glad you have friends at school. You know that we worried about that."

"I know, I always keep trying though. I just got lucky with them."

"So! How did you and Hermione get together? Have you two gone on any dates?"

"She came with me to my first Dueling Club meeting and I was really happy to see her there and really happy that I got in. After it was done I asked for a private word with her and… Now we're dating." He paused. "There really isn't much that we can do but sometimes we'll walk down to the lake and just sit there. It's nice."

"Have you kissed her yet?" She asked with a smirk. "More than what she did when she left here over Christmas?"

"Oh you saw that, did you?" Dante said blushing crimson. "A couple times." He mumbled as his father came inside.

"Dante, we didn't know you'd be here."

"He's got a girlfriend!" His mother cried.

"WHAT?" Came a shriek from upstairs. A moment later, his sister was thundering down the stairs looking expectantly at Dante.

After regaling his love life several times, he was finally allowed to go upstairs, but Megan followed him to his room.

"I still can't believe that you have a girlfriend already, I still haven't had a boyfriend."

"Maybe if you weren't so awful." Dante reasoned.

"But you! You have… well…" She trailed away. "I just didn't expect it to come naturally for you."

He knew what she was referring to, by all accounts it should be harder for him to form relationships with his condition. "She was the first person that I felt comfortable looking in the eye." He confessed.

"That makes sense why you would like her, but why would she like you?" Megan asked.

"I'm the best in our year apart from her? I can do some magic that even she can't do that's a few years ahead of us?"

"Maybe," Megan reasoned. "I think there's something that you aren't telling us about it though."

"There is, but I won't tell. That is between me and Hermione. At least until she's comfortable talking about it."

Megan's eyes widened in shock. "You two haven't" Dante cut her off.

"Nothing like that. We haven't even snogged yet."

" 'Snogged?' " Megan questioned.

"We haven't been making out, just the occasional normal kiss. No what I haven't told you guys is just personal and I won't say anything about it unless she says it's okay."

"Not even a hint?"

"To you? Never. You'd spread it like wildfire."

* * *

Easter was pleasant enough for Dante, his grandmother had baked an entire three foot loaf of Easter Bread for him, saying that he was one of the few people in the family who likes it. He'd been pestered about his relationship with "That cute British girl" several times, making him almost regret mentioning it at all. He was happy that his family seemed happy for him, but the insinuation that he wouldn't be able to get a girlfriend because of his Asperger's Syndrome was annoying him. These feelings of annoyance would fade whenever his parents would show off the pictures that they had taken of him and Hermione during her visit. His family members that hadn't seen her before would always say that she was absolutely beautiful, and that any boy would be lucky to be with her. Before he left, he scrambled upstairs to grab his accordion case and stuffed it into his trunk. The Portkey whistled and he was off. Instead of appearing near King's Cross, he appeared near the Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade. He rode a school carriage to the castle and made his way up to Gryffindor Tower.

While he was walking up, that same feeling of missing something important was bugging him again. He still couldn't place what was bothering him, but it hadn't escaped his notice that it happened after travelling by Portkey twice in a row. Once again though, he pushed it out of his mind. He would figure it out later, right now he had a girlfriend right behind the portrait of the Fat Lady and he wanted to see her more than solve the mystery.

"Dante! Welcome back!" Hermione cried and flung herself around him.

He staggered backwards from the force of the hug, but returned it all the same. "Good to see you, too, Hermione." He said when she broke away.

"Did you bring it?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's in here. I'll be right back, I want to drop off my trunk." He dragged the heavy trunk up the stairs to his dormitory and pulled out his accordion case. After a quick inspection to make sure that the instrument hadn't sustained any damage from the journey, he closed it back in the case and carried it down to the common room where his three friends were waiting eagerly.

"Let's see it, then." Ron prompted.

He opened the case again to reveal a large accordion. Its panelling was a deep reddish brown, most of the bass keys on the left side were black. There were 120 of these bass keys. The right hand side had a set of piano keys in black and white and the bellows of the accordion were black on the edges. When they were stretched out, they revealed an Italian flag.

"It's beautiful, Dante." Hermione said.

"Can you sing as well?" Harry asked with a grin.

"If by 'sing' you mean 'make the same noise as a cat being beaten to death,' yes." Dante said cheekily.

"Play something!" Ron demanded.

Dante picked up his accordion and put his arms through the straps. After putting his left hand through a tighter strap on the bass side, he pressed a button on the back and stretched out the instrument. He held it open for a moment, thinking about what he might play. He settled on a waltz that he'd converted from violin and began to play. His left hand tapping the beat of the waltz on the keys while his right played a melody.

The tune was one of the easier ones that he could play, he'd picked it up from a video game's soundtrack. This particular song had a violin and an accordion in it but he thought the accordion's part wasn't very interesting. He learned to play it's part entirely on the bass keys and then learned by ear the violin's part by ear on the piano side of the accordion.

When he was done, he saw a few stunned faces looking at him. He always closed his eyes when he played, looking around was distracting for him. Hermione gave him a watery smile. "That was beautiful, Dante!" She squeaked. "I've never heard it before."

"I sort of made it up." Dante said after slipping the instrument off his shoulders. "That was one of the ones that was played on the violin but I did it on this."

"I've never heard one of these before." Harry said. "It sounds…" He trailed away, thinking of the best word to describe what he'd heard. "Haunting." He supplied.

"Haunting." Dante echoed. "I suppose you could say that."

"Well, if push comes to shove, now we have a way past that dog if we need to." Ron said.

"I'm still a bit nervous about bringing it in there, but I will if we have to."

"We'll see if anything happens. I'm still not too eager to get past that dog." Harry shuddered. "I don't like dogs."

"Why not?" Dante asked.

"My aunt Marge. Her dogs are awful. Always trying to have a chunk of my legs."

"My dog doesn't do anything like that." Dante said.

"Oh no, his dog acts almost like a cat. He's really sweet, he just wants to lay on your lap." Hermione gushed.

"Well aunt Marge's dogs are nothing like that. I always try to hide when she visits, I don't fancy being chased up a tree."

"Well if you ever come over, don't worry about my dog. He'll probably just sniff you a bit then fall asleep next to you. He's lazy that way."

"What should be our signal that we need to go down the trap door?" Ron asked.

"I'd say if Professor Snape looks shiftier than usual. First, we should tell Professor Dumbledore but if he's gone then we should go." Hermione said.

"That sounds like a good plan. We shouldn't just jump in at the drop of a hat. What if we run into trouble down there?" Harry said.

"Right, only if we have no choice. We can't let Snape bring Voldemort back, so if the adults can't be counted on to deal with it, we'll do it ourselves." Dante said.

"Agreed." The other three said together. They had a solid plan, Dante only hoped that he wouldn't need to use it.

When Harry and Ron went upstairs to the dormitory, Hermione stayed with Dante in the common room. They were sat on a couch by the fire again and Dante was laying back on an armrest. Hermione laid her head on his chest and held his hand. "I have some news for you, Miss Granger." Dante said.

"Oh? And what might that be?" She asked without lifting her head.

"My whole family is in agreement with something about you. They all say that you are simply beautiful." Dante said, brushing some curls away from her face. "I happen to agree with them."

Hermione blushed and held him tighter, burying her face in his chest. "I'm so happy that I met you." She lifted her head up to look at him. "I can't wait to show you off." She said before capturing his mouth in a kiss. "I want everyone to know how lucky I am to have you."

Dante gave her a kiss in return. "I think that is my line, Hermione." He brushed another curl away. "Can't have you mixing up our lines. I'm supposed to be grateful for your attention, not the other way round."

She giggled, "Maybe we're just both lucky. I can't believe that it took and American to make me so happy."

"I feel the same, I would have never guessed that I would be with a…" Dante trailed away. "British girl." He finished after a moment, eyes wide.

"Dante? What's wrong?"

"Why am I here?"

"What?" Hermione asked, getting up to get a better look at him.

"Are there American schools of magic?"

"Yeah, there's one called Ilvermorny."

"So why was I enrolled at Hogwarts? Not that I'm complaining, I'm glad that I'm here. I just don't understand how I ended up here in the first place. Who do I have to thank for putting me in the same school as my soul mate?"

"That's a good question. I don't know. Maybe when all this blows over about the Stone, you can ask someone like Professor McGonagall. She was the one who told you that you were coming here."

"Right. You're right. God, imagine having to go to a school called Ilvermorny. Terrible name. As silly as Hogwarts is, at least the name rolls off the tongue."

"I'm glad that you did end up here. Who else would have come to help me feel better on Halloween?"

"Maybe Harry if he wasn't with Ron."

"No, he would have come to make sure I was safe. You came to cheer me up." She leaned in and kissed him on the tip of his nose. "And for that, I can't thank you enough."

"I couldn't stand Ron then. He was such a git."

"I brought some of it on myself, but after you came that I couldn't stop thinking about you. You stopped me from dropping out of here, did you know?"

"You weren't-" He started but Hermione had cut him off.

"I was. I didn't feel like I was fitting in at all. Everyone was so horrible to me except you and Harry."

"Happy Halloween." Dante chuckled. "It only took a bit of bullying and a troll to convince you to stay here with me."

"We should celebrate Halloween as the day we got together from now on."

"I'm okay with that. I'm terrible with dates. Halloween is definitely memorable as an anniversary."

She kissed him again. "Good. I need to get some sleep, good night, Dante." Then she stood up and walked up to the girls dormitory. Grudgingly, he made his way up to his dormitory and climbed into bed. He pulled the blankets over himself and fell asleep.


	8. Year 1 Chapter 8

Professor Quirrell had broken down crying while Professor Snape looked positively gleeful at the sight of him. Dante knew that this was the time to tell Professor Dumbledore about all of their findings. The four of them made their way to the stone gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office, only to be told that Professor Dumbledore was away at the Ministry of Magic on an urgent call. Panicking slightly, they went to the next best person to talk to, Professor McGonagall.

"Professor!" Harry cried when he saw her walking down a corridor. Her eyebrows shot up in alarm.

"Yes? What is it, Mr. Potter? What has the four of you so concerned?"

"We know that the Philosopher's Stone is here!" The four of them said in unison.

"I… I don't know how you could possibly-" Professor McGonagall stammered.

"The point is that someone is going to try to steal it." Harry said, cutting her off.

"I assure you that the best protective measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the Stone."

"Professor Dumbledore isn't here. Whoever it is that is trying to steal it won't have a better opportunity than tonight when he isn't here." Dante explained quickly.

"There are plenty of security measure for the Stone, Mr. Monte. I suggest that all of you go back to your dormitories. Go there now, please."

The four of them grudgingly began walking back to Gryffindor Tower. "What are we going to do?" Asked Hermione.

"We go through the trapdoor." Harry said gravely. "Tonight."

After nightfall, the three boys made their way down to the common room. Harry had his Invisibility Cloak, Dante had his accordion. When they got there, they saw that Hermione had made her way down at the same time. Their greeting was interrupted by a croaking noise from over by the fireplace.

"Trevor! Go away, you shouldn't be here!" Ron hissed at the toad.

"Neither should you." Said a voice. Neville Longbottom stood up from one of the armchairs facing the fireplace. "You four are sneaking out, aren't you?"

"No, Neville. It's not like that." Harry pleaded.

"I won't let you go." Neville said, drawing himself up to his full height. "I'll fight you." Dante's eyebrows rose at that. "I won't let you get Gryffindor into trouble." He said, raising his fists.

"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." Hermione said, then pointed her wand at him. "Petrificus Totalus!" She cried and his arms snapped to his sides, his legs locked together and he toppled to the floor.

"You're scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant, but scary." Ron said.

The four of them crept past Neville's petrified form, muttering apologies. Once they got through the portrait hole, they huddled together and Harry threw the cloak over them all. They just barely fit under it and crept slowly down to the third floor. They came to the door that Fluffy was behind and took the Cloak off. Dante put his arms through the straps on his accordion while Hermione pointed her wand at the lock on the door. "Alohamora." She whispered and the door clicked open.

They crept inside to find a drowsy three headed dog. There was a harp in the room and it was obvious that the dog was just waking up. Someone had been playing the instrument and had gone and the effect of the music was now wearing off of the dog. Dante quickly started playing the first thing that came to mind and it happened to be another piece from a video game. Harry and Hermione gave him a questioning look; they recognised this one. He was playing the Tetris theme. Immediately the dog's eyes, all six of them, began to sag and it fell back asleep. Only trouble was that one of the dog's massive paws was resting on the trap door.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione worked on moving the paw off the door while Dante continued to play. Once the door was clear, Ron opened it and the four of them all looked at each other. "I'll go first." Harry said. "Dante, you should probably go last since you're the one keeping Fluffy asleep."

"Right." Dante said quickly, trying not to lose his rhythm. He never got the hang of singing while playing, he knew that he was a terrible singer, but even then, when he was alone he would try to sing while playing but could never do it.

Harry sat on the edge, legs dangling into the pit, then slid down. A moment later there was a soft _thump_ and Harry called up to say that he was okay. Ron leapt down next and landed with another _thump_. Hermione went over to Dante, and careful not to interfere with him, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before dropping through the trapdoor herself. Finally, Dante edged his way over to the hole. He prepared himself mentally for the fall, then stepped off into the hole, his last note following him down. As he fell, he curled in on the accordion to shield it from the impact below.

The softness of his landing surprised him. It felt like he had slowed down before he hit anything, and what he landed in seemed to be some sort of plant. "Lucky this plant thing is here." Ron said.

"Lucky! Look at the lot of you!" Hermione hissed. She was at her feet, pointing her wand around while vines slithered towards her. Dante looked down to see that the plant that he'd landed in was made up of thousands of these vines that had wrapped themselves around him. The vines were steadily tightening around his legs, and he felt them going numb. "This is Devil's Snare!" She yelled.

"Great. I'm glad we know what the thing that's going to kill us is called, Hermione." Ron chided.

"Be quiet, let me think!" Hermione moaned. "Devil's Snare… What did Professor Sprout say about it? It's deadly fun… but will sulk in the sun! Devil's Snare hates light!"

"So light a fire!" Dante said. "I can't get to my wand."

"I can't get to mine either." Harry supplied. "Go on, Hermione."

"Of course! But there isn't any wood!" Hermione said, wringing her hands.

"Are you mad, Hermione?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Are you a witch or not?"

"Oh, right!" Hermione looked a little ashamed, but pointed her wand up in the air. She shouted something that Dante couldn't hear, on account of the vines starting to wrap around his head. Whatever she said, bluebell flames erupted from the tip of her wand and the vines began to retreat. The vines released the four of them and retreated into the shadows of the chamber they were in, revealing a door.

"Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology." Harry muttered.

"Lucky you and Dante don't lose your heads in a crisis. 'There isn't any wood.' Honestly." Ron grumbled.

"So." Harry said to Dante, grinning. "Tetris."

"I thought I recognized that!" Hermione said with a grin of her own.

"What are you two on about?" Ron asked.

"It was the first thing I thought of. Simple enough for me to play with the distraction of a three headed dog."

"Ron, that song he played was from a muggle video game. Hermione and I recognized it because we were brought up with muggles."

"I never played many video games, but I liked Tetris."

"It was the only one I've ever played, Dudley was too thick to figure out how to play it so when he threw it away I got a chance to play it."

They opened the door and saw that it lead to an enormous chamber. The ceiling was at least fifty feet high with great stone arches. It was like standing in a cathedral. Flying close to the ceiling were thousands of strange birds. At the other end of the chamber was a simple door, and beside it were four broomsticks. Hoping that this room would be simple, they walked straight to it and tried the handle. Locked. Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it at the lock. "Alohamora!" He yelled, but the lock didn't give.

They looked again at the birds and saw that they weren't birds at all; they were keys. Dante groaned and set his accordion down gently. "Well we'll just have to pluck those keys out of the air and try them one at a time." He said dryly.

Harry looked around at the keys carefully while Ron examined the lock. "We're looking for an old fashioned one. Probably silver with a bit of tarnish." He said simply. Dante was a little surprised at how much information Ron was able to get out of the lock.

"There!" Harry called, pointing in the air. "There's a silver key, I can't tell if it's tarnished but it has a broken wing. "Lucky the youngest Seeker in a century is here." He grinned at them and took a broom. Ron took one as well, and Hermione looked skeptically at the brooms before grabbing one herself.

Dante looked at the remaining broomstick reproachfully. "I'm gonna die."

"Come off it!" Ron said gleefully. "What's the matter with you two?"

"I don't like heights." Hermione said, shivering a bit.

"I like heights. I can't fly, though." Dante muttered darkly.

"Trial by fire, Dante. Step up." Harry beamed at him, but Dante just glared back. "Come on, Dante."

"Fine." Dante mumbled through gritted teeth, and mounted his broom. He began to hover unsteadily. Hermione tried to give him a reassuring look, but she looked like she wanted to remain on the ground as well. He steeled himself and looked up at Harry, who looked more at home in the air than on the ground.

Harry looked at the three of them and gave a briefing. "Right. Dante, since you don't mind heights, how about you fly up top to force the keys down. Ron, Hermione, you fly below and flank them. That will push all of the keys together. I'll fly in the middle and catch the one we're looking for."

"I'll take left." Ron said and flew up.

"I guess I'm right." Hermione croaked.

"I'll try not to crash." Dante grumbled, and flew in a strange wavy motion towards the ceiling.

"Dante, you need to relax, mate. Let the broom do the work." Harry said, trying to coach him on flying, this earned him another hateful look from Dante.

After flying around the room for a few minutes, he was about as good at it as Hermione. He felt reluctantly confident enough to carry out their plan. He flew up to the ceiling and pushed the flying keys down. Ron fell into position below and to his left, while Hermione did the same below and to his right. Behind him, Harry flew in the center of this formation, looking for the key with the broken wing. When he saw it in the cluster, he shot forward and snatched it. He flew to the ground, ran to the door, and unlocked it.

Relief flooded through Dante and he shot to the ground as well. As soon as he landed, he threw himself ungracefully from the broom. He curled up in a ball and rocked back and forth, taking deep, steadying breaths. Ron landed a second after he did, then Hermione after that. She ran over to Dante and stroked his back to calm him down.

"I don't mean to be rude, Dante. We just need to get through this quickly. Snape could have the Stone by now." Harry said, scratching the back of his head and looking impatient.

"Right." Dante managed to get out. "Right. I'm good now. Okay, let's go." He got unsteadily to his feet, then walked over to the door. "I think it'll be safe to leave the accordion here. The keys don't seem to do much."

"Good idea." Hermione said, still stroking his back. "We'll get it when we come back."

They stepped through the doorway and noticed a foul smell. On the floor before them was a large troll. Larger than the one that they met on Halloween, and this one, too, was unconscious. Snape had already been through here. Dante felt a wave of shame for his bout of fear that cost them so much time, and walked faster to the door at the end of this chamber. He got to it first and pushed it open.

At first, they thought they were looking at a graveyard. Large, stone figures stood all around them. When they moved forward into the chamber, torches on the floor and walls blazed into life. The floor in front of them was checkered black and white, and at their end of the chamber was a set of black statues exactly like chess pieces. At the other end, identical statues stood, but were white. Behind the white statues was the door to the next chamber.

"We have to play chess, don't we?" Hermione asked. The pawns on their side turned their faceless heads to her and nodded.

"Right then." Ron said with a smirk. "I'll get us through here." He finished confidently. "Harry, you take queen-side Bishop. Dante, Hermione, you take the castles. As for me, I'll be a knight." The black pieces listened intently to Ron, and the pieces that he'd replaced moved off the board. Once all four of them were in position they looked to Ron.

"What happens now?" Hermione asked.

"White goes first. After that, we play." Ron said. As he said it, a white pawn moved forward.

"Ron, you don't think this will be like _real_ wizard's chess, do you?" Harry asked.

"You there, move forward two spaces." Ron called, pointing at a pawn. It slid forward into position in front and to the side of the white pawn. As soon as it stopped, the white pawn pulled out a pair of swords and slashed the black one to bits. "Yes, Harry. I think this will be exactly like wizard's chess."

A fierce game of chess ensued. Several times, the others had to remind Ron about their positions when a white piece came close to them. After a while, Ron spoke up. "Right, that's the only way, then."

"What?" Harry asked.

"I'm going to put the king in check. Once I do, the queen will take me. Then, Harry, you'll be free to put the king in checkmate." Ron explained solemnly.

"Ron, you can't be serious." Dante said incredulously.

He turned to Dante. "Do you want to stop Snape or not?" He told him crossly. "After you guys checkmate the king, you need to move on and stop Snape!" He drew himself to his full height, and walked into position to check the king. "Check." He said gravely.

The queen turned and swept towards him in long strides. She raised her arm and smacked him with the back of her hand and he crumpled to the floor. Harry quickly ran over to his position. "Checkmate!" He yelled and the king took off his crown and threw it to the floor in front of Harry.

After a moment's hesitation, they all ran to Ron's unconscious form. He was bleeding a little from his eyebrow, but didn't look too bad. Harry and Dante picked him up and set him down against the wall, hoping to put him in a more comfortable position and out of the way of any chess pieces reassembling themselves. Once they were satisfied that he would be okay, the three of them made their way to the next chamber.

The next chamber was the smallest one yet and the moment they set foot in it, black flames shot up in front of them, blocking their advance. When they turned around, they saw violet flames blocking their retreat. To their right there was a shelf with seven bottles of various shapes and sizes, and a scroll of parchment. Dante picked up the parchment and unrolled it. He read aloud what was written on it.

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Another will transport the drinker back instead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;

Second, different are those who stand at either end,

But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."

"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic, it's logic, it's a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever." She took the parchment from Dante and looked over it.

"And we won't be stuck here then?" Harry asked the pair of them

"Everything we need is right here on this parchment." Hermione said grinning and she held it out so the two of them could pour over the riddle. "Give us a moment and we'll figure it out.

Dante already suspected that the smallest bottle would let them continue, if only for cynical reasons, but he made sure to keep his presumptions in check. He knew that the bottle on the far left couldn't be wine, since there had to be poison on wine's left. The second left and second right had to be the wine, meaning that the far left was poison and third from the right was poison. The one on the right couldn't be to advance, but it could allow them to retreat. He pointed at the small bottle, there was only one bottle smaller than it. "That one has to be the one to let us go back."

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Hermione said quietly. She then pointed at the smallest bottle. "That one will let us move on." She frowned. "There can't be much in there. Hardly a mouthful."

"You two have it solved, then?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but there is a problem." Dante said and picked up the tiny bottle. "This is the one that will let us through the black flames." Hermione picked up the other small bottle. "And the one she has will let us through the purple. There's hardly any potion at all in this one. All three of us can't go. At least, all three of us can't go forward."

"So at least one of us has to go back." Harry said, frowning. "Dante, Hermione, you two go back. I'll go on."

Dante shot him a look. "And what? Let you face an adult wizard looking to revive Voldemort on your own? I'll go with you."

Hermione threw herself at Harry and Dante and hugged them both tightly. "Please be careful. I don't want to lose either of you ever."

When she let go, Dante pulled her back and stood on his toes and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back." He said and watched her drink the potion for the purple flames. She shuddered violently.

"Poison?" Harry asked, alarmed.

"No." She coughed out. "It's like ice!"

"Go quickly, then." Dante prodded. "We don't know how long these last."

She stepped through the flames and was gone. Dante and Harry looked at each other. "Alright then. Let's get on with it." Harry said and opened the tiny bottle. He took a sip and he too shuddered violently before handing the bottle over to Dante. Dante then drank what was left and felt like his entire body had frozen.

The boys nodded to each other and stepped through the black flames. The fire didn't have the faintest touch of heat on his skin and he walked quickly through it. Once they were through, they entered yet another chamber. In the center stood a tall mirror with a finely decorated golden frame and clawed feet. In front of the mirror…

"You!" Harry shouted.

"Me." Professor Quirrell said calmly and turned around to face Harry and Dante.

"You!" Harry said again. "But… Snape!"

Quirrell smiled and spoke without his characteristic stuttering. "Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he? Rather useful to have him around. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-t-t-tuttering Professor Quirrell?"

"But at the Quidditch match! Snape tried to kill me!"

"No, dear boy. _I _tried to kill you. If it hadn't been for your buck toothed friend setting fire to his robes, I would have succeeded. Even with him muttering his little countercurse."

"You mean… Snape was trying to save him?" Dante said quietly.

"Very good, Monte. You always were such a good student, spastic as you are."

"Spastic?" Harry asked.

"Later." Dante muttered. He hadn't told Harry or Ron about his condition. It didn't seem relevant at any point. "So then… Halloween... the troll."

"Yes, I let it in to distract the others and made my way here. Snape already suspected me and headed straight to the third floor corridor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. He never left me alone since then. But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone, not anymore. But now..." His demeanor changed abruptly. "Enough talking!" Quirrell growled and flicked his wand. Ropes shot from the tip of it and bound Harry and Dante together. "I need to get the Stone for my master and the old fool put it in this mirror." He turned his back to them and examined his reflection. "I see what I desire, I see myself presenting my master with the Stone. But how do I get it?" He grumbled.

A high, cold voice spoke and it made the hairs on Dante's neck stand up. "Use the Potter boy."

Quirrell turned back to face them again and gave his wand another flick. The ropes binding them fell away. "Come here, Potter! Now!" He bellowed. Harry made his way slowly to Quirrell and waited. "Look into the mirror. Tell me what you see."

Harry stared open mouthed at the mirror and didn't speak.

"What is it? What do you see?" Quirrell prompted aggressively.

"I… I'm shaking hands with Professor Dumbledore. I've won the House Cup." Harry stammered and Quirrell pushed him away.

That terrible voice spoke again. "He lies."

"Tell the truth!" Quirrell screamed.

"Let me see the boy."

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough for this."

Professor Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. Coils of cloth fell away, making his head look quite small without it. Once it was gone, Dante and Harry saw that he was bald. Then the man turned around and they saw another face glaring at them. A face with gleaming red eyes and slits for nostrils. They were looking into the face of Lord Voldemort.

"Harry Potter." He hissed. "We meet again. Tell me, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back. All I need is what you have… right in your pocket. Together, we could do extraordinary things. Just give me the Stone!"

While Voldemort was talking to Harry, Dante pulled out his wand. He expected a fight very soon and wanted to have his guard up. As it so happened, he was very right.

"You liar!" Harry yelled.

"Kill them!" Voldemort hissed and Professor Quirrell launched himself towards Dante.

Dante raised his wand quickly. "Stupe-" He was cut off by the man's hands fastening around his throat and lifting him off the ground. He felt a horrible crunch in his throat when the man squeezed it. Pain like he'd never imagined exploded in his chest. He kicked and flailed to no effect. He tried desperately to get the man's hands off of his throat but every second that passed made him weaker. He was vaguely aware of a shout from Harry's direction, but his senses were failing him. His vision was darkening and his ears were ringing louder and louder. He noticed that his tongue was forcing its way into the front of his mouth, trying to pry it open. He stopped kicking, he didn't have the strength for it anymore. All he could do was twitch. His arms fell away from Quirrell's hands and his neck muscles relaxed as his eyes glazed over. He was going to die here. He gave another twitch and fell completely limp.

Suddenly Quirrell released him and he fell to the floor in a heap. Gasping desperately to fill his lungs with precious oxygen, he got to his hands and knees. He retched and coughed painfully and heard screaming to his left. He couldn't tell who was screaming, it didn't matter to him. He was too preoccupied with catching his breath. When he'd finally steadied his breathing, the world gave an almighty lurch and his eyes rolled back.

* * *

Dante woke with a start. Where was he? He didn't see the mirror around him and he was laying on something soft. Slowly, his head cleared and he could think properly. He noticed the form of an ancient wizard in purple robes sitting at the foot of his bed. He made to sit upright, but a hand gently pushed him back down.

"Relax, Dante." Professor Dumbledore soothed. "You are safe now, and I'm sure that you are also worried about your friends. They are perfectly healthy. In fact, Madam Pomfrey had to banish them from the ward for how long they were spending here, waiting by your bedside. They're all at lunch right now." He gestured to a pile of candy at the foot of his bed. "These are some tokens from your admirers. What happened between you, Harry, and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret. So of course the whole school knows."

Dante tried to speak, but all that came out was a horrible wheezing noise.

Dumbledore looked tearfully at him. "Your throat is very swollen from what happened to you. I'm told that you won't be able to speak for something like a week. For now…" He pulled a fountain pen and a set of muggle note cards from his pocket. "You'll be able to communicate with these." He handed them over and Dante sat up again.

Dante was thinking very quickly. What should he ask first? He scribbled a note. "_Stone?_"

"The Stone has been destroyed, Dante. I already spoke to Harry about this and I am quite pleased that the four of you did the thing properly. My friend Nicholas and I had a little chat and we agreed to destroy the Stone."

Dante nodded. "_Voldemort can't come back now?_"

He smiled sadly. "There are other ways that he can return. The Stone was just the easiest way for him to do so."

"_How long have I been asleep?_"

"Two days."

Dante's eyebrows shot up. "_Will I be able to talk before I go home?_"

Dumbledore nodded and picked up a mirror. "You will be able to talk by then but it will still be noticeable, and your voice will definitely sound wheezy." He turned the mirror to Dante and he would have gasped had he been able. The skin around his neck was black and two distinct handprints could be seen in the marred flesh. "I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you. I would completely understand if you didn't wish to return." Dumbledore said gravely but Dante brushed his apology away.

"_Not your fault. Voldemort._" He looked determinedly at Dumbledore's face. He then turned back to his notecards and wrote again. "_Ilvermorny? Why was I enrolled here and not there?_"

Dumbledore studied the question and spoke carefully. "Do you wish that you went to Ilvermorny?" Dante shook his head, but winced at the pain this caused. "As far as I know, Dante, your name appeared in our records on the day you were born. If your name appears on the list of future students for a school, you are enrolled at that school." He hesitated. "For whatever reason, your name is on our list and not Ilvermorny's list."

Dante nodded, but he was sure that Professor Dumbledore was leaving something out. He also still wasn't convinced about his friends' safety just yet. "_Hermione, Harry and Ron are really okay?_"

He smiled. "Of course, they were just kicked out an hour ago. I expect that if they aren't still at lunch, they're standing outside that door over there, waiting for me to say that you are awake."

"_When can I get up and go see them?_"

"I expect that is a question for Madam Pomfrey. She has final say in that matter. Speaking of which, I do need you to drink this." He gestured to a small bottle. "She only permitted me to be in here when you woke if I made you drink your potion. It will help with the pain and bring the swelling down a bit."

He drank it and was pleased to find that it tasted far better than the last one he drank. His neck loosened up immediately and felt less sore. At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled in. "Oh good, Mr. Monte, you're awake. Ah, I see that Professor Dumbledore has kept his word to me."

Dante quickly scribbled a note. "_How long before I can leave?_"

"Given how quickly you have been recovering, I would say that you could leave by this evening."

Dante smiled. "_I'm sorry for being a bother._"

Madam Pomfrey looked at these words bewildered. "Don't be ridiculous, boy. You are no trouble, no trouble at all. Now, I must warn you that because of what happened, you might be plagued with severe headaches for a few weeks. Losing oxygen for that long isn't what I would call healthy. When I send you away, I'll send you with a stock of pain potions. I need you to promise me that you will only take them when you get one of these headaches." Dante raised his right hand and nodded. "Good. Professor, if you would leave us now, I have some more checks to do."

Dumbledore bowed. "Of course, Poppy. Dante, I do hope to see you again in more happy circumstances." Then he swept out of the ward.

After a long series of examinations, some getting very personal, Madam Pomfrey said that he was healthy enough to go to dinner. She wrapped bandages around his neck to hide the bruises and released him. He made his way downstairs on strangely unsteady legs. He figured they must just be out of practice for walking since he had spent two days laying down. He shuffled into the Great Hall and over to the Gryffindor table. Off to his left, he could see Draco staring at him. He kept moving to the first years and saw more faces looking at him.

More faces staring. The room was feeling hotter. Why did they have to stare? Panic was rising in his chest. A shriek broke him out of his thoughts and Hermione came running over to him. She stopped herself from giving him a fierce hug and settled for stroking his back again. "Dante! You're okay!" He smiled weakly and nodded. "Can you… can you not talk?" She asked timidly. He shook his head and pulled out his notecards.

"_I have to write on these for now._"

"Oh, Dante, you had me so worried! Come and sit. We have so much to tell you!" She lead him to their usual place at the Gryffindor table and resumed her ministrations on his back. He smiled at her in thanks and started filling his plate, desperately trying to ignore the faces staring at him from all directions.

Once he had his plate loaded, he scribbled a note to Hermione. "_Why is everyone staring at me?_"

"Well… Quirrell nearly killed you. From what Harry says, you were on the point of death when he finally managed to make him let go of you. He said that…" She broke off and choked back a sob. "All you could do was twitch, you were strangled for so long. You will be alright?"

"_Where is Quirrell?_"

Harry saw this note and looked up at Dante. "Did they not tell you? Quirrell is dead. Whenever I touched him, it hurt him really bad, his skin blistered and burned wherever I touched. It hurt me a bit, too, but not nearly as badly. I just passed out from it. Apparently he died of shock from how much pain he was in." He chuckled darkly. "What a way to go."

Dante nodded and started eating his mashed potatoes. He would be home in just four days. Tears welled up in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away before writing another note. "_I'm going to miss all of you. I can't wait to come back in September. We really need to meet up over the summer._"

Hermione hugged him gently from the side. "Of course we will."

"Yeah, mate. Whenever I can get away from the Dursleys."

"I'll think of some muggle stories about my family so I can come over some time."

Dante nodded and wrote another note to Harry and Ron. This one was much longer than the one sentence remarks that he'd written before. "Harry, I told you that I would explain later when Quirrell called me spastic. Ron, you deserve to know, too." He began, then wrote a detailed explanation of his Asperger's Syndrome and handed it over.

"So what?" Ron asked, looking up at Dante after he'd finished reading. "You're still mates with us."

Dante smiled and looked around the hall. The whole place was decked in Gryffindor colors. His eyebrows raised in question.

"Oh yeah!" Harry said gleefully. "We won the House Cup!" Dante grinned at that and waited to see if Harry would explain more. They were at the bottom of the running before they went after the Stone. "Yeah, Dumbledore gave Ron 50 points for the best game of Wizard's Chess he'd seen in years. He gave Hermione 50 for 'cool use of intellect,' he gave the pair of us 60 points for 'pure nerve and outstanding courage,' and then he gave Neville 10 for standing up to us when we were going after the Stone."

"We were 220 points behind Slytherin before, and then they gave us all those points and we were put 10 points ahead!" Hermione said cheerfully.

Dante wanted to laugh but it was too painful on his throat. He settled on a smirk and wrote. "_I can only imagine the look on Draco's face._" His three friends laughed heartily and he wrote another note. "_I'm not sure what I'll tell my parents about this. I can't imagine that they would be too keen to let me back if I was nearly strangled to death by a professor._"

"Blame it on Malfoy!" Ron said at once, earning a disgusted look from Hermione but it was certainly an idea that Dante was considering.

"_If I blame it on Draco, I could say that I got him back already and that the matter was resolved. My parents live in America, it's not likely that they'll be able to contact the school easily._"

"Dante, I don't think you should lie to your parents." Hermione chided.

"_And what? Tell them that we were nearly killed by a troll that Quirrell let in? Or nearly killed by Voldequirrell in the Forest? Or nearly killed by a three-headed dog? By killer vines? Chess pieces? Voldequirrell again?_"

Ron and Harry chuckled and both muttered "Voldequirrell."

"_How about the Norwegian Ridgeback? Should I tell them about that adventure?_" He paused and went back to his writing. "_Actually I might tell them about that one. They'll be amazed that I've seen a dragon._"

"Dante, you tell them exactly how much you need to so you can come back. I think Malfoy is the perfect target for your lie. No consequences will come to him, the only people who will ever think that he did something to you will be your parents. I say work on a story based on that." Harry said, smiling.

"_I think I can come up with something that will satisfy my parents. I might say that he cursed me from behind and I hit him with something that made boils pop up on his forehead that spelled 'Coward.' _"

Hermione gave grudgingly nodded. "I suppose that it wouldn't hurt him if your parents couldn't do anything to get him in trouble."

Harry and Ron started talking about Quidditch so Dante wrote another and held it out so only Hermione could read it. "_I have to lie so I can come back and see you again. I have a feeling that this will be the worst summer of my life because I'll just be wishing that it was over and I was back with you._"

"Dante…" Hermione said weakly.

"_Did you feel it when I was down there?_"

Hermione let out a sob. "Yes."

"_I'm so sorry you felt that. I figured you must have, I've been feeling your anxiety over the exams._"

"It was horrible…" She choked out. "I know it was worse for you, but I could feel hands on my throat and I could barely breathe." Dante started stroking her back the way she had done for him. "It hurt so much, Dante. I could feel one of your bones breaking."

Dante shuddered. "_Hyoid. Quirrellmort broke it when he choked me. That's what Madam Pomfrey told me anyway._"

"How are you feeling about it, though? Did you have nightmares while you were in the Hospital Wing?"

"_I passed out and woke up there. It felt like no time had gone by at all._"

"You aren't scared by what happened?"

"_Scared is the wrong word, I think. It's changed my perspective I think. Do you know, air is so criminally underrated. It truly is, if Quirrellmort was still alive, I'd have to thank him for making me really appreciate the wonderful stuff that is air._"

Hermione snorted. "Yes, I suppose that one can only truly appreciate air when they go without it for a while."

Dante grinned. "_Now you're getting it._"

They finished their desserts and made their way to the common room. More stares followed them as they walked and they were making him less and less comfortable. Every time he noticed someone's eyes on him he got a chill down his spine. The less comfortable he felt, the louder the pounding in his head got. By the time the four of them reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he had to duck to the side and pull out one of his potions. His head felt like it was splitting open. Hermione followed him away from the Gryffindor entrance and wrapped her arms around him, making soothing noises into his ear. After a minute, the pain went away and he slumped to the floor, drained. "Come on," Hermione urged. "Let's get you to bed." She dragged him to his feet and pulled him through the portrait hole. She pulled him up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, ignoring the looks from the rest of the Gryffindors and coaxed him into bed.

"Hermione…" Dante said slowly in his wheezy voice. "This is the boy's dormitory."

"We've got a bigger problem than that." She said with a smile.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Dante asked with heavy lidded eyes.

"It's what we said to each other when the troll came for us."

Recognition shown on Dante's face and he smiled. "Happy Halloween."

She leaned forward and kissed him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dante. Goodnight."

He mumbled something incoherent.

"Sorry?"

"Love you, Hermione." He mumbled again before falling asleep.


	9. First Summer Part 1

A/N: I'm just going to say that this Author's Universe is time shifted slightly. To clear things up, our quartet started attending Hogwarts on Friday the 1st of September, 2006. This means that this chapter begins on Saturday the 16th of June, 2007.

* * *

Dante was feeling rather depressed. He hadn't finished his notebooks yet and he was going to be leaving his friends today. He had a good idea how to do the Protean Charms thanks to help from Hermione and Professor McGonagall, but he didn't have enough time to perform them. He settled on counting out how much money he had left. Perhaps he could buy an owl or something when he got to London. After a quick inventory, he had 18 Galleons, 14 Sickles, and 20 Knuts. Not nearly enough for an owl that could handle the flight across the Atlantic. He sighed dejectedly. Maybe he'd be able to talk to them some other way, probably not Ron though. All he had available to him now was muggle methods of communication. On top of that his bruises, while no longer black and obvious hand prints, hadn't faded. They were an ugly mixture of purple and green.

He did know that the others at least had a way to visit him over the summer. He still wanted to share his birthday with Harry so arranged things at home to be ready for his three friends to stay over for the weekend of Friday the 13th of July. His friends all had Portkeys that would have them show up at 7 in the morning on Friday and leave at noon on Sunday. On top of that, he had a way to visit Hermione in August. She was going camping in the Forest of Dean that summer with her parents but they found a weekend that would work for them. August 24th he would arrive at the Granger's and on the 26th he would leave with only a week before he would see Hermione again. Five days, in fact.

Deciding to at least attempt the muggle methods, he pulled out three small strips of parchment and scribbled his home phone number on each. On the one he would give to Hermione, he wrote down his email address. He figured that only she would be able to talk this way since Harry wasn't likely to be allowed near a computer by his vile relatives.

Harry and Dante walked to breakfast together and left Ron and Hermione in their dorms. Hermione was taking strangely long to get ready while Ron was sleeping in. Dante's voice was still very quiet and wheezy, but he could at least talk while he wasn't under the influence of one of his pain potions.

"Mate, I don't know if the Dursleys will be too pleased if I use their phone. Especially if I call you in America."

"If I call you, it may not be as bad. The international charges would be on my end, not yours."

"Still, they won't like me enjoying something." Harry said sheepishly.

"We've got to get you out of that house. You're miserable there."

"I've got nowhere else. My Aunt Petunia is the only blood relative that I have left." Harry sighed.

"Yeah and she sure treats you like it, doesn't she?" Dante said with a hint of disgust. Few things truly disgusted Dante, but nothing got under his skin like injustice. He quickly put the thoughts out of his mind and focused on Harry's visit this summer. "Listen, before you come over, you should stop by Gringotts and get some money out. Not much, maybe 20 Galleons and convert it into dollars. I've got something brilliant planned."

"And you aren't going to tell me what this brilliant thing is, are you?" Harry asked, slightly amused.

"Course not! That'd ruin the birthday surprise!"

"Are Ron and Hermione in on it?"

"In on what?" Hermione asked, sitting down beside Dante. She didn't normally put on makeup but today, she'd made a serious effort. Dante always thought that she was pretty, but right now she looked absolutely radiant.

"What, er, what's the occasion?" Dante said after staring at her appreciatively for a while?

"Oh, it'll make my mum happy to see me like this." She said nonchalantly, then added in an undertone for Dante. "I also wanted you to see me at my best before we separated." Dante blushed a bit at that. She then returned to her normal tone. "So what am I in on?"

"You aren't. Harry asked if you or Ron are in on my plans for our birthday. I haven't told any of you because it's a surprise. All I told Harry is that he should go get 20 Galleons converted to dollars for it."

"Should I do the same?"

"If you like, though I'd be a little offended that my girlfriend won't let me treat her." He added that last bit glibly, earning a smack on the shoulder.

"Dante Alighieri Monte." She chastised. "What if I wanted to get you something?"

"I certainly won't turn it down." He said in his wheezy voice. "Hermione Jean Granger."

"Well, I hope that answers your question, Harry." Hermione said, turning to him. "I am not in on this plan of his."

"The only hint I'm giving the lot of you is to bring shoes that you'll be comfortable walking in all day. There will be a lot of walking and standing around." Dante croaked out with a grin.

After the train to London, he made another trip to Diagon Alley before his Portkey took off. He looked into the owlery and confirmed that he couldn't afford a suitable owl for keeping in contact. He even suspected that Hedwig might have trouble reaching him. Instead he went looking for other things that might be useful from the wizarding world. There was a stand over by Flourish and Blotts' where copies of the Daily Prophet were sold and he decided to take out a subscription for weekly papers to be delivered to his house in Ohio. He then went and bought himself and his family some ice cream from Florean Fortescue's parlour just before his departure.

A whistle, a bright blue white flash, and he was standing in before his front door. He elbowed it open and stepped inside. "Hi mom, dad." He wheezed and held out the ice creams for them to take.

"Dante? What's wrong? What happened to your neck?" His father asked alarmed.

"I'm fine," He croaked out. "I had something of a fight yesterday."

"A fight? I told you-" His mom started but he cut her off.

"A fight that I didn't start. Draco cursed me from behind while I wasn't doing anything to him. I was just walking to common room and he thought he would have a laugh."

"What's going to happen to him? I hope he got in trouble for it."

"The matter has been resolved. Before my throat swelled up too much, I managed to hit him with a curse that made painful boils pop up on his forehead."

"You look like you were choked out!" His mother cried.

"I didn't mention the best bit for what happened to him. Those boils spell out a word on his forehead. He's walking around now with the word 'Coward' plastered to his forehead. If he tries to remove them, they'll pop up elsewhere on him. I do hope for his sake that he doesn't try it and leaves them alone. They'll go away in a month." He lied smoothly.

"So you think that's okay for him to not be punished by the teachers?"

"I've punished him enough. Now everyone who sees him will know that he's nothing but a sniveling coward. I think that's enough for him. Don't worry about it."

"I don't like the idea of you going to a school where things like that can happen." His father mused.

"No! I want to go back! It's the only place I've got…" He trailed away, embarrassed.

"We just want what's best for you, Dante."

"I know, but even though there are some bad things that have happened there, almost everything else was good. You know, I watched a dragon hatch while I was there."

"A dragon? When was this?"

"Before Christmas. It was a Norwegian Ridgeback. The gamekeeper won the egg and Harry, Ron, Hermione and I watched it hatch with him."

"So they keep dragons there?"

"No, after a few days they sent it off to Romania. Dragons aren't very dangerous when they're a week old but they grow quickly. Somewhere in Romania they have a place to keep them safe. And a dragon isn't the only magical creature I saw. There was a troll on Halloween, a unicorn and a centaur shortly after the dragon, and a phoenix just before Easter. Oh and the bankers at Gringotts where I got my money exchanged are goblins."

"Didn't you say that your wand has a phoenix feather inside?" His mom asked.

"Yeah, and so does Harry. Professor Dumbledore has a phoenix as a pet, and apparently that phoenix is the one who's feather is inside his wand."

"He keeps a phoenix as a pet?" His dad asked incredulously.

"Fawkes is really nice. I might get a phoenix someday if it's anything like him."

"Maybe not while you're still living here." His mom said disapprovingly. "Come on, let's make you some hot tea for your throat."

Dante put his trunk away upstairs and talked about the school year, he'd mentioned that Professor Quirrell had quit and moved onto something more exciting than teaching rather than saying that Harry had killed him. After he'd caught his parents up with the false version of events over the school year that made it sound much safer than it was, he went upstairs to go to bed. Before he closed the door, Megan walked in.

"What really happened?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your neck. I don't know much about magic, but that definitely looks like someone strangled you."

"That's what the curse did. It strangled me, it's fine. I've taken care of it. If Draco starts anything next year, I'll respond in kind."

"I don't believe you."

"What do you want me to say, Megan? Will it satisfy you if I say that, oh I don't know, Quirrell didn't quit, he got arrested after trying to strangle me to death?"

"No… That doesn't sound right either."

"Exactly. Because that didn't happen. Draco hit me with a curse, and I hit him back. Everything is fine."

"How's your girlfriend? Are you two still together?"

"She's fine, yes we're still together. No, we haven't gone further than the last time we spoke about her." He said a little exasperatedly. He felt guilty every time he thought of her now, the thought of her feeling Quirrell strangle him disturbed him a lot.

"And there still is something going on there that you haven't told me."

"If she tells me that it is okay to tell you, then I will. Maybe. Since I know that you can't keep a secret to save your life."

Dante's father had overheard this part of the conversation and came into his room as well. "You and Hermione haven't…"

"No dad. Nothing like that has happened and I don't expect that it will for a very long time."

Dante's father made Megan leave and then proceeded to give Dante "The Talk" for an hour. A very uncomfortable experience to say the least, and he was quite glad for his departure. When he left, he opened his old laptop and started on an email to send to Hermione.

"_Hello Hermione,_

_I miss you already. I think my parents believe my story about Draco so they will let me come back next year. Megan doesn't believe it though, she's sure that something terrible happened. She's also convinced that there is something between you and I that I haven't told her. It's weird how easily she can tell. Do you think I should say something about it?_

_How has your first day back been? I still haven't talked much to your parents. Mine are happy that we're still together. I hope that they don't hate me and my sweet tooth. I can't wait for my birthday trip. Just four weeks before I can see you again._

_I suppose that I'd like to see Harry and Ron as well, but you are the one I'm most excited to see. Another thing I wanted to ask was what all you know about Ilvermorny and American wizarding culture. I'm wondering where the closest place for me to go buy magical things, like Diagon Alley._

_Looking forward to hearing from you,_

_Dante Alighieri Monte._"

He sent it to the email address that Hermione had provided him with and set about unpacking his trunk. He pulled out his Gryffindor badge and put it on display on his desk. He sorted all of his clothes. The next morning he checked his email and was delighted to see that he had one from Hermione.

"_Everything is great here, Dante._

_Of course I miss you too. I'm glad that your parents believed your story. I do wonder about your sister. I find the situation with her curious. I wonder since you're a muggleborn, maybe she has some magical blood as well. She could have some magical instincts and recognise when she sees something. I think it would be okay to tell your family about our soul bond. I can't really think of anything bad that would happen from it. If you don't want to say anything then I won't._

_As for American Wizarding culture, I don't know much. I do know that they have a different name for muggles. They call muggles 'no-majs' over there. At Ilvermorny, they have four houses as well. Theirs are named for magical creatures, Horned Serpent, Pukwudgie, Thunderbird, and Wampus. I don't know what qualities each house prefers, but from what I've heard Thunderbird is most similar to Gryffindor or Slytherin. It's sort of a mixture. The cunning of Slytherin with the bravery of Gryffindor. Finally as to where you might find magical supplies, I haven't the foggiest. Everything is so centralized here in Britain, with just Diagon Alley to go to. Your country is so much bigger, I expect there are many more places to go to. Especially since there is so much rural landscape. It would certainly be better to have loads of places for you to go._

_My parents seem to love you from what they've been saying. I told them all about you, of course. They're looking forward to your visit, it'll be nice for you to see parts of London apart from Diagon Alley._

_I'm looking forward to seeing you more than you know._

_Love from Hermione._"

"Hey Megan!" Dante called, in a moment his sister had come to his room.

"What?"

"Hermione said that it's okay for me to tell you our secret."

Megan's eyes lit up and she sat down. "What is it? Have you two had sex or something?"

"No! No this is something a bit stranger. There's a bit of really rare magic called soul bonds. People who share one can pull on each other's magic for a boost in power, they can feel each other's emotions, and talk to each other without speaking."

"Soul bond." Megan said blankly. "Are you saying that you two are soulmates?"

"To put it simply, yes."

"You are eleven." Megan said flatly. "You won't be with her forever. That's not how dating works."

"Not normally, but for people who have the bond that is exactly how it works. It would be painful for either of us to date anyone else."

"So why do you bother sending her emails if you have that? You said that you can use like telepathy with her."

"We haven't figured out how to do that yet. So far I've been able to feel whenever she gets really bad anxiety."

"That's just you being her boyfriend."

"No, I could feel it before I saw her. Anyway part of why we can't do all of that stuff yet is that we haven't really been very, er, physical."

"What? You get superpowers for having sex? And you haven't done that yet?"

"That's right. I want to wait though, like you say, I'm eleven. Anyway when Draco hit me with this curse, she felt that, too."

"That sounds terrible." Megan said, shuddering.

"It can be." Dante said, nodding.

He sent an email to Hermione telling her that he didn't mind if she told anyone about their bond and proceeded to explain to his parents about it as well. He was a little surprised at how well they had taken the news that he knew who he was going to marry at eleven years old. All they told him was to wait to do that until he got her father's permission after they were out of school.

The second weekend of July came along and at 7 in the morning, three bright flashes appeared in front of his house. When they vanished, a young witch and wizard stood, looking around. Ron and Hermione walked up the steps to the door and knocked.

Dante wrenched open the door and bid his friends to come inside. "Hermione! Ron! Good to see you!"

Hermione rushed forward and hugged Dante. "I missed you!"

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked, looking around.

"He should have arrived the same time as you." Dante said, looking down at the pen that was supposed to be Harry's ticket here. "Have you heard from him at all over the summer?"

"I haven't." Ron said, frowning.

"Nor have I." Hermione said sadly.

"You don't think something's happened to him?" Dante asked.

"It's possible. I don't know what to do to check on him." Hermione said.

"Maybe he needs rescuing." Ron mused.

"How would we rescue him?" Dante asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Dunno. Maybe Fred and George could think of something."

"Well. We should focus on what you have planned for us today!" Hermione said smiling. "We can worry about Harry when this weekend is over."

"Yeah, mate. What are we doing?"

"Ron you've never been to an amusement park. Today and tomorrow you'll be going to one!"

"You're kidding!"

"Oh, Dante!"

"No word of a lie! We've got a hotel to stay in tonight then tomorrow night we'll come back here."

"Are we going to Cedar Point, Dante?"

"Yes we are!"

Hermione and Ron both handed over presents for Dante's birthday. They each had another, but they were for Harry. Instead, they set those on a shelf in the house before getting ready to go.

They all piled into the Monte's SUV and drove up to Sandusky, Ohio. When they got to the Causeway heading to the peninsula, Ron audibly gasped at the sight of the roller coasters on the horizon. "Muggles built this?"

"Of course, Ron." Hermione said, grinning. "Although it probably isn't a good idea to say 'muggles' here."

"Right."

They entered the park and Dante's parents let the four kids run off to ride whatever they wanted. There were signs all over the park advertising the newest roller coaster at the park, Maverick. They all decided to just ride everything on the way to Maverick, starting with Demon Drop.

"What does this thing do?" Ron asked.

"Just watch." Dante said with a smirk. They watched as a cart raised up to the top of a tower. There were four people standing inside and once it reached the top, it was pushed forward a few feet. A few seconds later, it dropped into a freefall before pitching back and slowing down when the cart was laying on its back.

"No." Ron said, looking slightly green.

"Absolutely." Said Megan. "We're doing it." Before leading them all to the queue. Ron looked very uncomfortable but didn't want to be a coward in front of his friends. Hermione looked warily at the height of the ride but didn't want to speak up either.

Dante could feel the anxiety wafting from her, but put an arm around her shoulder to steady her nerves. They waited until they reached the beginning of the queue and were ushered into one of the carts. The cart jolted into motion and began to climb the tower. The higher they got, the more fear Dante could feel from Hermione. He couldn't see how Ron was handling the ride so far. The cart shifted forward and they waited. The fear from Hermione was unlike anything he'd experienced yet, but all he felt was excitement.

They dropped, very quickly and there was a shriek from Hermione and Ron while Megan and Dante just laughed with delight. They came to a stop laying on their backs and the two British kids were breathing heavily. "That was…" Hermione started. "Something."

Dante grinned wickedly at her. "It was brilliant!"

"Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I can't believe that mug- I mean, people make these things." Ron said, still breathing heavily.

They made their way up the peninsula, riding everything along the way. Ron and Hermione quickly got used to the rides and started to enjoy themselves a lot more. They rode Wicked Twister, Power Tower (Dante wasn't a huge fan of this one, it felt like just a fast elevator to him) Corkscrew, Top Thrill Dragster (Hermione looked like she might faint when she saw how tall it was), and were now on their way to Dante's favorite ride at the park, Magnum XL-200. The queue was very short for this one, much shorter than Top Thrill Dragster, and they made it onto the platform in about five minutes. They got in the train and it began its slow climb up the hill, anti-rollbacks clattering loudly all the way. The noise of the anti-rollbacks wasn't loud enough to drown out a voice from a young boy sitting in front of Dante.

"Amazing that No-majs have the ability to make this sort of thing!" The boy said, and Dante gasped. Sitting in front of him was another American wizard. He didn't have time to think about it anymore, the train was cresting the hill. Dante felt the delightful sensation of weightlessness as the train fell down the hill and he laughed the whole way back to the ride's Safety Brakes. Dante didn't know that's what these brakes were called, but this author does so now you do, too.

As the train rolled towards the station, he whispered to Hermione. "Did you hear that boy say 'no-majs?' "

Hermione nodded. "He could be an American wizard. Maybe we can talk to him."

When they got off, Dante walked quickly to catch up with the boy. "Excuse me." He said quietly, prodding him on the shoulder.

"Yeah? Hello." The boy said, turning to face Dante. He had a similar build to Dante, very scrawny and short. He had short wavy dirty blonde hair and glasses over blue eyes. A very distinguishing feature that Dante noticed was the rather large ears on the boy.

"I couldn't help but overhear you on the ride. 'No-majs.' " He said, then added in an undertone. "You're a wizard, too, aren't you?"

The boy blanched. "Was I that loud? Sorry about that." Hermione, Megan and Ron caught up with them now. "Yeah, I am. Are your friends here, uh, are they, too?"

Dante gestured to Hermione and Ron. "They are. My name's Dante, that's Hermione and Ron, and then my sister Megan."

"I'm Foster. Are you three starting at Ilvermorny this year?"

"We go to Hogwarts." Hermione said.

"What? All of you? Even you?" Foster said, looking at Dante.

"Yeah, we don't know why I ended up there but I'm not complaining. The three of us are all Gryffindors at Hogwarts."

"Neat! I'm a Thunderbird." He turned to Megan. "So you don't go there, I haven't seen you around at my school. Are you're a no-maj?"

Hermione whispered in Megan's ear. "He means muggle."

"Oh… Oh! Yeah I am. My brother is muggleborn and I'm jealous. I want to be a witch."

"I keep telling you that you're as foul as a witch."

"Why did you call her 'no-maj?' " Ron asked.

"That's what we call them here." Foster said, looking confused. "I've only heard 'muggle' being used with 'born.' I'm muggleborn as well."

"I'm a pure-blood. Not that it matters, these two are better than me at everything. 'Cept Quidditch."

"We'll be starting our second year after the summer." Dante said. "What year are you at Ilvermorny?" There was a shout that drew Foster's attention.

"I'll be a third year. Listen, are you from anywhere near here? I'll owl you later but I have to go."

"Yeah, I live less than two hours away. Just near Akron."

"Great. I'm over by Fort Wayne, Indiana. My owl will be able to find you. I gotta run. It was nice talking to you!" With that, he ran over to his parents that were waiting for him.

"Does everything from the American wizarding world have to sound so terrible?" Dante asked bemused. " 'No-majs?' "

"It's like what you said about Ilvermorny. It doesn't roll off the tongue at all." Hermione said.

"So, Ilvermorny is another school?" Megan asked.

"Yes, I think it's in Massachusetts." Dante said scratching his head. "Maybe that's why they had the Witch Trials."

"And you have to go to Scotland to go to school?" Megan asked, looking suspicious.

"I don't know why, but Dumbledore told me that each school has a list of future students. Whenever a muggleborn is born, their name appears on the list for whatever school they're enrolled at. Mine appeared on Hogwarts' list instead of Ilvermorny's."

"So it's just an accident that you and Hermione go to the same school and just happen to meet each other?"

"Looks that way." Dante said, shrugging. "Let's go ride something else."

They spent the rest of the day riding whatever took their fancy. They rode Gemini a few times, Mean Streak once before deciding to never do it again, Cedar Creek Mine Ride once, Millennium Force a few times. The others liked this one a lot but Dante wasn't particularly impressed by it. Finally they rode Maverick and Dante couldn't decide if he liked this one or Magnum XL-200 better.

Once the park was closed, they made their way back to Hotel Breakers and relaxed with some dinner. While they ate, Dante's parents asked about their day. They were quite surprised to hear that they'd met another wizard, but were glad the kids all enjoyed themselves. They'd also asked Ron a lot of questions about the wizarding world. They were curious about what his family did. Before they went to bed, Dante led Hermione outside to walk along the beach.

They walked hand in hand for a while before Hermione spoke. "This has really been wonderful, Dante."

"I'm glad you think so." He said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm a little surprised at how much I've enjoyed this. You know I don't like heights."

"I think part of you knows that nothing is going to happen. It's different from riding a broom. You could make a mistake on that. Here there's no mistakes that you can make that will make you fall."

"You're probably right." She hesitated. "I love being with you, Dante."

They reached a secluded part of the beach and Dante kissed her. "I thought we talked about you stealing my lines, Hermione."

She giggled. "It's true though. I'm glad that I'm here and I can't wait 'til your visit next month."

Dante sat down on the sand and Hermione followed. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Dante."

"I love you, too, Hermione." He said, stroking her back gently.


	10. First Summer Part 2

The rest of the summer, Dante made himself a new pen pal with Foster. His owl was called Ness, it was a beautiful barn owl. He had told Dante about how things work in American wizarding culture, including that there wasn't really one big Diagon Alley in America. Almost any mall that you go to would have a section that only wizards can go to. Dante figured the way through must be like Platform 9-3/4 at King's Cross. Not every mall would have everything you would need but they had a good assortment of supplies there. Wand shops were restricted to major cities, the only ones in Ohio were in Columbus and Cincinnati. Incidentally, being from North Canton made the closest city with a wand shop Pittsburgh. There were many wandmakers in America, the most prominent being a man called Rooney. He was fond of making his wands out of Horned Serpent horn, Thunderbird feather and, bizarrely enough, Manticore hair. How Rooney managed to get Manticore hair was beyond Dante, but it was interesting nonetheless. There was some obscure wandmaker in America that also used Thestral hair in his wand cores, claiming that Death himself thought it was a suitable core, and who was he to argue with Death?

He decided to go check out the local mall in North Canton, just to see if he could find some wizarding supplies there. He still didn't know exactly what to look for when he was there, he knew how to get to Platform 9-3/4 only because it was explicitly shown to him. Maybe he would be lucky though. He spent about three hours looking around the mall, trying to see if he could spot someone slipping through a wall. He casually ran his hands along the walls of the mall, feeling for a spot where he might slip through. By the end of his day, he hadn't found any sign of it and was a little suspicious that Foster may have been having him on. He went home and checked his email

"_Dante,_

_I just got the most horrible news! Ron, Fred, and George have rescued Harry from his vile aunt and uncle. He'd been locked in his room with bars on his window! They put a cat-flap in the door to slip food in to him, rather than let him eat with the family! Honestly, I wonder how Professor Dumbledore could think this is an acceptable living arrangement for him. He's obviously mistreated there. I do hope that it isn't anything more physical that they do to him. I've never hated anyone more in my life than them. They wouldn't even let Hedwig out of her cage! It's people like the Dursleys that give muggles a bad name._

_At least he is safe now. He's staying with Ron at the moment and a letter came from him saying that a house elf had been intercepting our letters. He hadn't gotten a single one because the elf wanted him to think we'd forgotten him. I expect that the Weasleys will take him to Diagon Alley around the same time as your visit. We could probably meet up with them if you like._

_I have been planning on things for us to do while you were here. I thought we might go to a play. There's one called Wicked that I've been really excited to see and it will still be on when you get here. There's also loads of restaurants that I'd love to go to with you. I know you're Italian, so you would probably prefer Italian cuisine. There's plenty of that here. I'm partial to French, myself. Though that is probably because I've been to France so many times and loved every visit. Whatever you prefer, I'd be glad to enjoy it with you._

_I hope that the news about Harry doesn't upset you too much, but I wouldn't blame you if it does. It certainly upset me._

_Love from Hermione._"

Dante reread the first paragraph of Hermione's email several times. Each time, his anger grew stronger. This was absolutely disgusting. There was no other word for it. He wanted the Dursleys to pay for what they've done. His magic was making the air swirl around him violently so he needed to bring himself down. He stormed downstairs and outside. Whenever his temper got the better of him, he would go on a walk to settle himself. He would just walk around the neighborhood, walking to one of the schools that he would have attended if he was a muggle was a common option for him. After about an hour of fuming, he came back home and sulked at the kitchen table. This outburst did not go unnoticed by Megan.

"What's got you so pissed?"

"Found out why Harry didn't show up. God I hate them. I've never even met them and I despise them." He growled.

"Who?"

"Harry's aunt and uncle. Turns out he's been locked in his room for the whole summer. They put a cat-flap on the door to feed him and they put bars on his window."

"What? Why?" Megan asked, aghast.

"They hate magic and hate him. Ron and two of his brothers rescued him."

"Do they… Hit him?" Megan asked apprehensively.

"I don't know. He's always miserable whenever they come up in conversation. I wouldn't put it past those… Those freaks."

"Do you think he'll have to go back there after this year?"

"Not if I can help it." Dante muttered darkly.

* * *

The morning of August 24th came and Dante woke up at a quarter after 6. He didn't need nearly that much time to get ready to go to London, but he wasn't prepared to take any chances. In the past week he'd exchanged a few more emails with Hermione, who assured him that Harry was okay now. She had also thought of a few more suggestions for what to look for next time he tried to go to the mall to find the wizarding section. She thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to listen to what people were saying and hope to hear a word that gave away where a wizard was. The same thing he had done with Foster, really.

His parents had given him another load of money to take with him. They were planning on doing his school shopping on Saturday when they could meet up with the Weasleys and Harry. After saying his goodbyes, the old skeleton key that was his way to London began to whistle. A bright blue flash and he was standing in front of a house that he'd never seen before. In one of the front windows, he saw a girl's face pressed up against it, looking at him with a grin. He grinned back and walked towards the house and she pulled the door open to greet him with one of her fierce hugs. When she let go, she was still grinning and said. "Hi!"

"Hi, yourself!" Dante smirked. "Are you going to try to break my ribs every time we meet or will that stop happening eventually?"

" 'Oh, I do apologise for being excited to see my best friend!' " She quoted at him with a smirk of her own. She then led him inside and made sure that he took his shoes off at the door on a mat, and he set his trunk down next to the shoe mat. "House rule, sorry. My parents don't like having much dirt in here."

"That's fine, it's the same as my grandma's." Dante said, shrugging then looked around. "Where are they?"

"We're in the kitchen, dear!" A voice called out. Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen. "Hello, Dante. It's nice to see you again!" Mrs. Granger said with a warm smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger. Thank you for inviting me to stay for the weekend."

"Oh, no worries, boy!" Mr. Granger chortled. "We were just as excited to meet our daughter's boyfriend as I'm sure your family was to meet her!"

"Just make sure that neither of you are in each other's rooms after dark. You two can stay up and be together later than that down here, just not in the bedroom. We know about you two having this bond but we're not quite ready to be grandparents yet, Dante."

Dante blushed a bit at this. "No, of course not. I, er, apologise in advance if I sleep in a bit. Time zone difference, you see."

"Oh don't worry about that." Mr. Granger chuckled. "It must be, what? 7 in the morning where you came from?" Dante nodded. "Seems like you're an early bird anyway. You probably should start going to bed earlier when you get home, though. It would help to get used to the time change before classes start next week."

"Hermione, why don't you show Dante around the house and where he'll be sleeping?"

She seized his hand again and dragged him to every room in the house, saying what each was. Before going upstairs, Dante picked up his trunk and carried it up to put it in his room. When they got to his room, she let go of his hand and turned to face him. "Just so you know, they know what really happened last year. All of it, the troll, Fluffy, Quirrel. They might ask you some questions about it. I just want to let you know so you don't panic if they ask."

Dante blinked. "Oh, okay. That's fine." He thought about it for a moment. "They're okay with all of it?"

"I lead with our soul bond and they're mostly concerned with keeping me happy. They know that we can't be apart for long so they just told me to be more careful this year and try to get more adults to look into anything that we think is dangerous."

"Do they know about what happened to you when… Quirrel?"

"Yes, I think that was the most disturbing thing for them." Hermione shuddered.

"It definitely bothers me that you were able to feel that. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Least of all, you."

"It's okay, now, Dante. We're okay."

"I know. Now!" His somber expression faded and was replaced by a sly grin. "I need to greet my lovely girlfriend properly!"

" 'Lovely?' " Hermione asked, but was cut off by Dante kissing her.

"Lovely." He said simply.

She smiled. "I missed you. I'm glad it'll only be a week this time."

"Me too." Dante was about to say more, but he was interrupted by Mr. Granger's voice calling up the stairs.

"If you two are finished snogging up there, we'd like to talk a bit more!"

Blushing furiously, the two twelve year olds made their way back downstairs to the smirks of Hermione's parents.

"Oh, look, Emmet! I think they really have been snogging! I've never seen Hermione blush so much!"

"Mum!" Hermione cried. "We weren't! We just… We kissed is all!"

Her parents just cackled in a way that reminded Dante very much of Megan whenever she was laughing at his embarrassment. "Did you hear that, Dani? She and her boyfriend only kissed. It's nothing like snogging at all."

Dante could feel the mortification from Hermione and wanted to try to calm her down but didn't know if it would be appropriate to do so in front of her parents. He argued with himself back and forth and felt more anxiety that he knew was his own. He couldn't decide what to do and the indecision was making him feel lightheaded.

Mrs. Granger looked up at him and stopped laughing immediately. "Dante, dear, sit down. You look faint." He did as she asked and noticed that he was breathing a little heavily. "I'm sorry, that was rather beastly of us to make fun of you two."

"It's alright. I just, on my own I could handle that kind of teasing. I just could feel it from Hermione as well and…"

"You felt her embarrassment as well?" Mr. Granger asked. He nodded. "Ah, sorry about that, lad. Hermione's mentioned that you two could feel each other's emotions, among other things." He said that last bit with a serious look to Dante. "We heard what happened when you went after this Philosopher's Stone. How have you been coping with that?"

Dante thought about it for a while. "Honestly? I haven't really thought much about what happened to me. I just hate that she could feel it."

"Dante," Mrs. Granger said softly. "We'd heard that you, well, you were almost dead, dear. It's okay for you to be affected by that."

"I know. I don't know why I'm not too bothered by it, I haven't been getting any nightmares or anything, at least no nightmares from my own perspective."

"From your own perspective?"

"I, er, I sometimes have them about running out of the chamber to go help Ron. When I get to him I realise that I'm wearing Hermione's clothes and right after I feel myself choking. A little while after it starts, I see Professor Dumbledore running towards me."

"Dante," Hermione began. "I think we've swapped places in our nightmares."

"What?" Dante spluttered.

"Whenever I have them, I'm you. I see what happened from your point of view. What you just said is exactly what happened for me that night."

"Can't keep secrets, can we?" Dante said with a shy smile.

"From what we heard, Dante," Mr. Granger said. "You were probably seconds away from dying. If that Harry took any longer getting that man off you, you wouldn't be sitting here having this unpleasant conversation with us.

Dante decided to try to lighten the mood a bit. "Hmm, I'm having trouble deciding which I would rather happen. Me dying or spending more time with Hermione." He smirked. "Spending time with her is quite nice, but on the other hand… No unpleasant conversations." He mimed weighing two different objects. "Tricky."

Hermione's parents stared at him them broke out laughing. "Hermione," Mr. Granger started once he regained his composure. "If you don't marry this boy, I will."

Hermione and Dante both choked and spluttered. "Mr. Granger, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I, er, as they say, don't swing that way."

"You wound me!" He chortled. "Now, Dante, could you come with me? I need to give you the 'Dad Talk.' " He stood up and Dante followed him to the back porch and sat down at a table there. "Dante, I'm angry. I'm furious. Livid, in fact."

Dante blanched "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"No! That's the problem!" He said angrily. "Hermione is my little girl and that means I am supposed to hate her boyfriends! I just can't bring myself to hate you though! You clearly think the world of my girl. She thinks the same of you, Dante." He looked pensive for a moment. "I know she's told you that she hasn't had friends before going to school with you. I'm eternally grateful for Harry and Ron for saving her life on Halloween, though I know it's because of things that Ron said that she was in that bathroom. You, though, went after her when her feelings were hurt. That means more to me as her father than you can imagine. At least until you have a daughter of your own."

"I just couldn't stand to see her upset."

"Exactly my point! I'm supposed to hate you and there you go saying things like that!" Mr. Granger huffed. "She's mentioned something else about you, I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds when I say I know that you aren't what they call neurotypical."

"Asperger's Syndrome." Dante said.

"I figured. Hermione doesn't know this, yet, and I ask you to let my wife and I tell her. At least try not to tell her. It might be hard for you to keep this information away from her with your bond. When she was young we found out she has it as well."

Dante looked up and stared at him. "She does?"

Mr. Granger nodded. "We found out that she had it when she was 5."

"I was 4."

"I expect that yours is a bit different than hers in how the disorder affects you. She has always been the sort of girl who wants to know everything. And I meant _everything_."

"I'm a bit more focused in what I like to learn about, I think. Whenever I find something that I'm interested I look into everything that I can get my hands on about it."

"She's told me about some notebooks that you're working on." Mr. Granger said, looking mildly amused. "Listen, I'm still obligated as her father to say this: Don't hurt my little girl."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Granger. I already said that I couldn't stand to see her upset."

"So you did. How have you gotten on with everyone's accent at school?"

"I've discovered that anyone from north of Glasgow is completely incomprehensible to me."

Mr. Granger roared with laughter. "Having trouble understanding the Scots, are we?"

"I'm in firm agreement with King Longshanks about the Scots. 'The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots.' "

He chuckled and said. "Don't let your Professor McGonagall hear you say that!" His expression hardened. "Now, I do want to talk more about what happened to you in those dungeons. Did that Professor Quirrell break anything when he choked you?"

"Madam Pomfrey told me that my hyoid bone was broken. I, er, I felt a horrible crunch when he squeezed my throat."

"Do you know how long he had you?"

"D'you know I didn't check my watch." Dante said wryly and Mr. Granger chuckled. "I don't know. I know I wasn't able to thrash about anymore. I went from kicking around, to weird… spasms, then twitching, then I stopped moving completely. I couldn't see anymore, and I couldn't hear either. I was still awake though, then Harry made him drop me. While it was happening, it was like my mind just turned off. I wasn't Dante anymore, I couldn't think for myself at all. I wasn't able to direct my movements at all, they happened on their own. But even then, I was aware of it. I was sort of detached if that makes sense."

Mr. Granger's face darkened as he heard Dante's story. "Dante, from what you're saying, that… I can't even imagine how you must have felt. And you were still conscious when he dropped you?"

"After I fell, I remember gagging and coughing to try to catch my breath. When I was finally breathing properly, I passed out."

"Damn…" He muttered under his breath. "And yet, as horrible as that was, there's another reason for me to like you."

"How do you mean?"

"Even after you felt that, the first thing you were concerned with was the fact that she could feel it, too. Like I said, I can tell you think the world of Hermione. You're more concerned with how she's doing than yourself. You're the sort of boy that any father dreams of his little girl meeting."

"I never thought of it that way."

"I don't expect you to, lad. Well. I'm satisfied with this conversation. Don't give me grandchildren before you're married, and we'll get along fine." Mr. Granger said before standing up.

"I think I can promise you that." Dante said with a smile and Mr. Granger clapped him on the back.

"Come on, we've kept our ladies waiting long enough."

When he made his way up to Hermione's room, he saw that she was reading. She looked up at him and bid him to sit on her bed with her. "Daddy didn't give you too hard of a time, did he?"

"No, actually. He says that he likes me."

"Really?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he made me promise not to hurt you and not give him grandchildren before we're married."

"I think we can manage to keep those promises."

"Easily." Dante said and Hermione leaned in and kissed him. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"We're going to see Wicked in about two hours, so we'll be in central London. I also thought you might like to see Westminster. That's where Parliament and Buckingham Palace are."

"God save the Queen." Dante said cheekily.

Hermione laughed and said, "God save our gracious Queen." She kissed his cheek then seized his hand again. "Come on, let's go!"

The four of them piled into the Granger's saloon car and started to drive. "Where are we, by the way?" Dante asked.

"Epsom." Mr. Granger said. "We'll be in Westminster in a little less than an hour."

"Excellent. I have always wanted to visit London, well, visit it properly. It seemed like an easy international destination for me."

"How do you mean?"

"Well we speak the same language. I'd like to go other places but here I'm not totally lost because I can still communicate with basically everyone."

"We've been to France, of course. It takes some getting used to, being surrounded by people who don't speak your native tongue. Knowing enough French to get by helps."

"I'm not fluent in any other language. I know a bit of Italian and Romanian, but not enough to hold a conversation."

"Romanian is a surprise."

"I'd heard that it's really similar to Italian." He cleared his throat and turned to Hermione. "Buna, meu numele este Dante. Ce faci?"

Hermione mulled over his words. "I think you just said your name is Dante, I don't know what the last part was."

"Correct. The last part was me asking 'how are you?' "

"I think I'll have to teach you French." Hermione said smiling.

"Exactly how many languages will I be speaking now that we're together?"

"A fair few." She chuckled. "You'll teach me Italian and Romanian, and we'll both speak four. It's still surprising that you would learn another language in America. Especially where you are, there really aren't that many Spanish speakers there."

"Hermione says that you're quite close to Pittsburgh, Dante." Mrs. Granger said, turning to face the kids.

"Yeah, I go there sometimes. It's very nice."

"I've seen pictures of the city, it looks lovely there. All the green mountains around it."

"Whenever we go, we go through the Fort Pitt tunnels to get into the city. It would take another hour to get around the mountains."

Mr. Granger shuddered. "Tunnels. I hate driving through them."

"Daddy, we ride through the tunnel to France almost every summer!"

"Doesn't mean I like it, kitten."

"Fort Pitt isn't anywhere near as long as that. It might be a mile long."

"Have you seen this play we're going to, Dante?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"No, I've heard of it, though. It was on Broadway when I went to New York City."

"Does your family take you to the theater often?"

"Not this sort of theater. They take me to watch movies. I've never been to a play before."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself. We've heard nothing but good things about this one."

"I'm excited for it. My parents made sure to drill into my head that I can't say I don't like something until I try it. I've never seen a play before so I can't have an opinion on it yet."

"What all has that attitude made you try that you wouldn't have otherwise?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Sushi. I didn't think I would like sushi but I love it."

"You like sushi?" Hermione asked incredulously. "I'd have never thought it of you."

"Smelt roe is my favorite. It's just a normal roll without anything in it, but it has a little pile of tiny orange fish eggs on top. Delicious."

Hermione looked like she might be sick at the thought of it. Dante looked to her. "Have you had it before?"

"No."

"Then you don't know if you like it or not." He said with a smug look.

"Pffft." She huffed and crossed her arms.

Dante raised his eyebrows. "That, Hermione, was shockingly ineloquent for you."

The adults in front started chuckling to themselves. "He's got you there, kitten."

* * *

The play was excellent in Dante's opinion, though with no other examples to compare it to, he didn't know how to rate it. After, they walked along Abingdon Street and stopped to take pictures by the Palace of Westminster. The Grangers were very eager to get pictures of Dante and Hermione together. They went over to see Buckingham Palace to take more pictures and when the Grangers were satisfied with the normal tourist destinations, they went to get some dinner. For Dante this felt like lunch, but by now it was going on 7 in the evening. Upon hearing about Dante's taste for sushi, Mr. Granger decided to take them to a Japanese restaurant, much to Hermione's dismay.

They ordered their food, Dante managed to convince Hermione to try a rainbow roll, and got his smelt roe along with a few pieces of salmon sashimi. When their food arrived, Dante began to eat with ernest.

Hermione took a tentative bite of a piece of her roll and it fell apart after she bit into it. "You're meant to put the whole piece in your mouth." Dante said smirking at her. "What do you think?"

"It's not bad, actually. I could get used to it." She looked down at her plate and saw in the corner there was a pile of wet pink stuff and a glob of something green. "What are these?"

"The pink stuff is ginger. You eat a piece whenever you change from one kind of sushi to another. It clears the taste of the last piece from your mouth. The green is wasabi. It's spicy and I don't really like it."

"So there _are_ things you don't like." Hermione said cheekily.

"I don't like eel or octopus either, but eel sauce is nice. Octopus is just too chewy for me. It feels like chewing a rubber band. Here, try one of these." He picked up a piece of the smelt roe with his chopsticks and placed it on her plate. "It's delightful."

She eyed the piece skeptically before resigning herself to try it. She popped it in her mouth and grimaced. After swallowing it, she said. "Not for me."

"That's okay, now you know what you don't like."

They ate the rest of their dinner contentedly and on the drive back to Hermione's house, she fell asleep leaning on him. Dante thanked Mr. and Mrs. Granger vigorously for treating him to dinner and taking him to the play. "It's nothing, dear. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Mrs. Granger said, bidding him goodnight.

He walked upstairs and kissed Hermione goodnight. "Te iubesc, mea fata Britanică."

She laughed and said, "I don't know what that means but it sounds romantic." Before kissing him and going to her room.

When he walked into his room, there was an owl sitting on the windowsill, staring at him with a letter tied to its leg. He crossed the room and took the letter. It was from Professor McGonagall, addressed to him, the guest staying in the guest bedroom.

Opening the letter revealed it to be a list of school supplies that he needed for the year. Looking at the books, he saw that most of them were by a man called Gilderoy Lockhart, and they all had an alliterative name. _Year with the Yeti_, _Voyages with Vampires_, _Gadding with Ghouls_ among others. He wondered what sort of teacher would ask their students to buy so many books from this author. Deciding to leave it for tomorrow, he prepared himself for bed and went to sleep.

In the morning, they all made their way to Diagon Alley and after visiting Gringotts Dante found himself with 52 Galleons clinking merrily in his pocket. They quickly found the Weasleys looking around wildly on account of their very noticeable red hair. "Hermione!" One of the Weasley children called out.

"Hello, Ron!" She said brightly. "Where's Harry?"

"He should be here with us, we came here by floo powder. He should have come to the same fireplace as us."

"I'm sure he's only gone one grate too far." Said a tall balding man. He looked over at Hermione and smiled. "Ah, you must be Hermione Granger! Ron's told us loads about you. Top of every class, he? Bright future for you." He looked up at Hermione's parents and did a double take. "But you're muggles! Oh excellent, Arthur Weasley, I work at the Ministry of Magic. Oh you must let me treat you to a drink, I find muggle culture fascinating!"

Ron looked apologetically at Hermione and her parents. "Sorry, dad's a bit mental." He muttered.

Just then, they noticed Hagrid striding towards them with Harry struggling to keep up. "Harry! Hagrid!" Hermione beamed.

"Hullo Hermione!" Hagrid said happily.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!" She said.

"It's great to see you, too." Harry stammered.

"What'd you do to your glasses, Harry?" Dante asked, noticing the shattered lenses.

"Fell over." He muttered.

Hermione sighed and pulled out her wand. "Occulus Reparo."

"I definitely need to remember that one." He said gratefully.

"Yeh'll be alrigh' then, Harry? I'd best be off."

After saying goodbye and thanking Hagrid, they all headed into Flourish and Blotts to get their second year books. Upon reaching the storefront, they saw that the place was packed with people. At the front of the store was a sign announcing a book signing by Gilderoy Lockhart as well as the release of his latest work, an autobiography called _Magical Me_. Dante looked at the picture of Lockhart on the sign and thought that the man looked rather smug. They pushed inside and gathered all of the books on their lists. They made their way to the line for the clerk when they were pushed into the other line for Lockhart's book signing.

"Excuse me, young man!" A photographer said roughly after pushing past them. "This is for the Daily Prophet!"

"Big deal." Ron said, massaging his foot that the photographer had stepped on.

It turned out that Gilderoy heard Ron and looked up at their group. His eyes locked on Harry's scar. "It can't be Harry Potter!" He said softly.

"Harry Potter!" The photographer cried and seized him by the shoulder. He dragged him over to Lockhart and began taking pictures like mad.

"Nice big smile, Harry. Together you and I rate the front page! Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is!" Lockhart said in a suave tone. "When young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts' this morning to get my autobiography, _Magical Me_, he had no idea… that he would in fact be leaving…" He gestured to a man behind him, who picked up a load of books. "With my entire collective works…" He paused to give a dazzling smile. "Free of charge!"

They stood for a few more pictures before Harry managed to slip away from Lockhart. "Oh, Harry!" Said Mrs. Weasley. "Here, you give me those, and I'll get them signed. All of you wait outside."

They made their way to the front of the store when a drawling voice caught their attention. "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter? Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page!"

"Leave him alone." Ginny growled at him.

"Oh look, Potter! You've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco looked like he was about to say more when he was cut off by what looked like a silver snake bit into his shoulder.

"Now, now, Draco, play nicely." Said a new silky voice. "Mr. Potter," The man said. "Lucius Malfoy. Forgive me," He reached forward and brushed the hair away from Harry's scar. "Your scar is legendary. As of course is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents." Harry growled. "He was nothing more than a murderer."

"Hmm." Lucius mused. "You must be very brave to mention his name. Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Hermione said.

"Ah and you must be… Miss Granger, and you must be Mr. Monte." Lucius said, looking at the pair of them. "Yes, Draco has told me all about you two. Including your parents." He glanced up at the Grangers who were talking animatedly with Mr. Weasley. "Muggles, aren't they?"

"Yeah. So what? Doesn't stop Hermione and I from being the top in every class." Dante said defiantly.

"Quite." Lucius said, looking rather annoyed. "Let me see here, red hair, vacant expressions, you must be the Weasleys." He sneered.

Just then, Mr. Weasley bustled through to them. "Children, it's mad in here! Let's go outside!"

"Well, well, well, Weasley senior." Lucius sneered.

"Lucius." Arthur said with a strained look on his face.

"Busy time at the ministry, all those extra raids. I do hope they're paying you overtime. But judging by the state of this…" He picked up a book from Ginny's cauldron. "I'd say not. Tell me, what is the point of being a disgrace to the name of wizard… if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Arthur's face turned very red. "We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."

"Clearly." He sneered. He looked back at the Grangers. "Associating with muggles… And I thought your family could sink no lower." He dropped the book back in Ginny's cauldron and glared again at Arthur, who looked ready to pounce. "I'll see you at work. Come, Draco."

Draco stepped in front of Harry again. "See you at school." Then he strode away behind his father.

They spent the a few more hours in Diagon Alley buying the rest of their school supplies when Harry disappeared in the crowd after saying that he would be right back. A moment later, he had a package in his hand that had come from Ollivander's. "Sorry I couldn't come for our birthday, mate. Here's your present." He said, handing the box to Dante.

Dante looked in the box and gasped. It was a wand holster that you could wear on your wrist. A simple flick of the wrist sent the wand into your hand. "Mate, this is brilliant!" He said happily and began digging through his trunk that he'd been using to store all of his shopping. "I have something for you as well," He rummaged some more before extracting a small bag and handing it over. "Here!"

Harry reached in the bag and pulled out a framed picture. It was the four of them on their last day, standing together, laughing. Hagrid had taken the picture of the four friends and it made Dante happy to look at it. He figured Harry would feel the same. Harry stared at the picture then pulled a surprised Dante into a hug. "Thanks, mate."

"Anytime, Harry." Dante said when Harry released him. "I still owe you loads for saving me in June… And October."

"Don't worry about it. I know you would have done the same. Especially since you weren't going to let me go in there alone."

Dante chuckled. "I was loads of help in there, too, wasn't I? Ah, well. I'm still glad to be going back next week."

"It'll be brilliant to be back, won't it?" Harry mused.

Dante laughed. "Let's just try to keep the mortal peril at a minimum this year, yeah?"

After they were done shopping at Diagon Alley, they made their way back to the Granger's house and were bursting at the seams for the next school year to start. Mr. Granger had introduced Dante to Monty Python and he didn't know the last time he laughed so much. Once _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ had ended, the adults had gone up to bed, leaving Dante and Hermione in the living room.

They sat together on the couch and Hermione leaned into the crook of his arm that wrapped around her. "I've really enjoyed this visit, Hermione." He said, squeezing her tight to him and planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm so happy you could come. I'm really glad my parents like you, too."

"How could they not? I'm the most charming boy ever. Even more charming than Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"Git." She chuckled.

"Witch." He retorted, amused.

She leaned up and kissed him, but this kiss felt different somehow. It was like she was kissing him over and over again without breaking away. He responded in kind and realised that he was snogging Hermione, not just kissing. Snogging her felt amazing to him and he could feel something from her that he could only describe as "serenity." They broke apart for air and looked into each other's eyes. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too, Hermione." He said and they started snogging again. He could get used to this. When they broke apart again, Dante noticed that he was more acutely aware of her feelings. What he felt from her was clearer than ever before.

"You feel that, too, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah. You feel closer than before."

"I think as our relationship progresses, we'll become more in tune with each other."

"I don't mind taking our time if you want to."

"I certainly didn't mind snogging you."

Dante snorted. "No, I didn't mind either. I might go as far as to say that it was fantastic."

She leaned closer to his face again. "Oh, you would, would you?" She asked before starting to snog him again.

'_If this is what I have to look forward to this year, then I don't want it to end at all._' He thought to himself.

A new voice entered his mind. '_No I don't think I want this to end, either._'

Dante's eyes shot open and he broke away from the kiss. "Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"Did we just talk… you know… telepathically?"

"I, er, I think so. Unless it was our imagination."

'_Does this seem like the it's in our imagination?_' He thought.

'_No, I don't reckon it does seem like our imagination. We're talking!_'

'_Brilliant! This is amazing!_'

'_I don't know if we'll be able to do this when you go home, Dante, but it is fascinating._'

'_I hope we can. It will help with the distance, knowing that you're only a thought away._'

'_I always am. And so are you. And right now, we're both knackered. Let's go to bed._'

So they did, and they had quite a long conversation that nobody could hear, from two different rooms. With a familiar sense of giddiness that Dante associated with being close to Hermione, he finally fell asleep.


	11. Year 2 Chapter 1

Dante took Mr. Granger's advice when he got home, going to sleep much earlier than before to prepare himself for his move to Scotland. He found that he couldn't make telepathic contact with Hermione when he was home, but he could vaguely feel her emotions. He didn't quite know how to describe the sensation of feeling her emotions. All he could say was that they were distinctly separate from his own. They just felt like Hermione. Shortly after he got home, Hermione sent him a number of emails with all of the pictures that her parents took of them. He downloaded them and showed them to his parents, who were very pleased to see them. They printed one out of them standing in front of Parliament with the Thames in the background and hung it up on a wall in the dining room. The morning of September the first, he left from North Canton at 5 in the morning and arrived in London at 10. He quickly found the Grangers getting ready to send Hermione off at King's Cross and made his way over to them.

"Dante! Good to see you, dear. Are you excited?" Mrs. Granger said, giving him a hug.

"Very excited!" He grinned.

"Please try to be safe this year, you two!" Mr. Granger said, shaking Dante's hand.

The two of them walked through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 and chose a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Dante helped Hermione put her trunk up on the rack above their heads and they talked about things they were most excited for in the school year while waiting on Harry and Ron. The compartment door opened, but instead of Harry or Ron, it was a Slytherin girl in their year that Dante recognised but didn't know. She was tall for her age, had long sleek black hair held back by a green headband, and a rather cute face. "Hello." She said. "Do you mind if I sit here? I'm not too keen to sit with Malfoy."

Dante silently asked Hermione if she minded, when she indicated that she didn't, he said, "No, feel free."

She smiled and stowed her trunk. "I'm Daphne. Daphne Greengrass. I'm a Slytherin, but I hope you two don't mind."

Hermione smiled. "As long as you don't bother us about our blood status, we'll be fine. I'm Hermione Granger. We're both Gryffindors."

"Dante Monte."

Daphne scoffed. "Please, as if being muggleborn mattered when it comes to abilities. The pair of you are proof enough that blood status is a load of rubbish." She sat down across from Dante and Hermione. "Are you two excited about Defence Against the Dark Arts this year?"

"Is there anything special about it this year? All I know is that they need a new professor on account of the last one dying." Dante said.

"The new teacher is Gilderoy Lockhart!" Daphne gushed.

"Oh, is he? I'm sure it will be wonderful!" Hermione said happily.

"What kind of git makes the students buy his entire collection of books?" Dante asked to the stunned faces of the girls. "The only book of his that wasn't on the list was his newest one, and from what I can tell, only because he couldn't justify it."

"He has loads of experience. Of course he would have his works in the required reading." Hermione reasoned.

Dante was about to say something else when the train lurched forwards. They were finally moving to Hogwarts. "Are Harry and Ron still not on the train? I didn't see the other Weasleys either."

"I'm sure they'll be okay. Well… I hope they will."

"The four of you find a lot of trouble, don't you?" Daphne asked.

"You have no idea, Daphne." Dante said.

"I heard about what happened to you and Harry last year. I can't imagine…" She was cut off by the door opening again and this time, Ginny walked in.

"Have any of you seen Ron? Or Harry? They were just with us before we got on the train."

All three heads in the compartment shook. "I wonder where they are." Dante muttered to himself. Once Ginny left to look in other compartments, he turned back to Daphne. "What happened down there with Quirrell, I'm sorry, but I'd rather not talk about it just now."

"Oh, of course!" She said, looking rather embarrassed. "Sorry, I should have thought about that."

"Don't worry about it. I might talk about it sometime, but right now I just want to keep being excited for the new year. No need to bring up bad memories just yet."

"Right." Daphne nodded. "I expect that you are going to try to keep a lower profile this year, yeah?"

"I won't go looking for trouble. Something tells me that it will still be looking for me."

"Well at least you aren't defenseless. You were in the dueling club last year, that wasn't supposed to be allowed for first years. You have to be really good to be let in there last year."

"He is." Hermione grinned. "I went with him when Professor McGonagall was introducing him to the club. She had him duel Cormac McLaggen to see if he could join. He knocked him out in about five seconds."

"Wow." Daphne said, impressed.

"To be fair, Cormac is an idiot."

"True, but Dante, you still know how to use spells that are far beyond our year."

"I'd heard that you can Stupefy people, Dante."

"Er, yeah, I can. It was what convinced McGonagall to let me in the club."

"Did you really hit Draco with a stunner to the face last year?"

Dante smirked. "As a matter of fact, I did."

Daphne cackled. "Oh my God, that git deserves it so much." She sighed. "Always trying to get close to me. It's uncomfortable being around him, I just know he's a step away from groping me."

The two Gryffindors looked furious. "Daphne, if I see it happen, you can be sure that he'll never do it again."

She smiled. "Thanks. I was actually hoping that you might help teach me how to duel. If that's alright, of course."

"Er, yeah, that'd be fine. I'll have to see what our schedules look like, but we could work something out. You could try to join the club, too. Since we're second years now."

"Thanks. I don't want to have to rely on witnesses if Draco does something. If I'm alone with him, I don't want to be defenseless."

"I can understand that." Hermione said, nodding. "Lucky for you, Draco is rubbish in a duel right now. Having any skill whatsoever will help against him."

Daphne laughed. "Yes, I expect so. So, since you two are the best in every class, do you know much about what we'll be learning about in the next couple of years?"

"We're not that far ahead, Daphne." Hermione chuckled.

"I do know something that they won't teach us at school but I'd love to learn. It's really advanced Transfiguration magic."

"What is it?" Dante asked, intrigued.

"Animagi." She said, practically glowing at the thought of it. "My whole family is full of Animagi and I can't wait to become one. I wonder what I'll turn into."

"Oh, like Professor McGonagall." Dante said.

"Yes! Everyone's Animagus form is unique to them; it's almost always the same as their…" She broke off, thinking. "Patronus?" She paused again, trying to decide if that was the right word. "Anyway, being able to turn into an animal would be wonderful."

"That does sound neat. I'll have to look into it. I wonder what I would turn into." Dante mused.

They spent the rest of the ride on the train talking about their summers as well as Dante talking about his life in the States. Silently, Dante and Hermione were getting more and more worried about Harry and Ron. Where were they? Towards the end of the journey, Dante excused himself to the bathroom to change, leaving the girls with the compartment to themselves.

When he came back, he was wearing his scarlet and gold tie, badge adorned with a lion, and his black school robes. He saw Hermione wearing matching robes and Daphne in green and silver with a serpent badge. "I hope they don't make us go across the lake again this year." Daphne sighed.

"I think that's only for first years." Dante said.

"It is." Hermione confirmed.

"Good. I hate being on the water. I've heard there's a giant squid in there, just waiting to pluck someone out of a boat and drag them under."

"I can think of worse ways to go." Dante said, chuckling. "Just think about Quirrell. He died of just pure pain. The pain he was in put him into shock and he died from that."

Daphne shuddered. "Even then, not being able to breathe…" She stopped and looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't think about that."

Dante waved her apology off. "Don't worry about it. I can confirm to you, though, that not being able to breathe is rather unpleasant. It does make sure that you really appreciate air, though."

Daphne laughed. "I remember my dad joking that you take breathing from both nostrils for granted until one of them gets clogged up and all you can think about is how nice it was to be able to breathe through both."

Dante and Hermione laughed. "Exactly!" He said, "It's the same basic principle."

The train pulled into Hogsmeade Station and the students all filed out of the train. They followed the crowd of people not in first year to the horseless carriages and the three of them got into one together and were joined by another Slytherin boy and a Hufflepuff girl.

"Hey, Daph." The Slytherin boy said.

"Hi, Blaise." Daphne said happily. "Have enough of Malfoy?"

"Can't stand the git. Wish he was in the bathroom with the troll last year." Hermione cleared her throat at that. Blaise looked over at her and his eyes widened. "Bloody hell, sorry about that. Didn't realise…"

"Does everyone in Slytherin hate Draco?" Dante asked, amused by the two Slytherins.

"Most of us, yeah. Why did you just call him Draco? Do you like him?" Daphne said.

"No, I just never got used to referring to other students by their last names." Dante said, shrugging. "Not really something that came up when I was in school in America."

"The only ones who like Malfoy… Draco… in Slytherin are Snape, that Parkinson hag, and Crabbe and Goyle. There are some older Slytherins that like him, like Flint, but not many." Blaise said. "Oh, my name's Blaise Zabini."

"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Dante Monte."

"Susan Bones." The Hufflepuff girl said quietly.

"Dante, huh? You're Italian, too, aren't you?" Blaise asked.

Dante smirked. "I'm American." When he said this, Blaise raised his eyebrows. "My great grandfather moved to America from Fabrizia. When he immigrated, he changed his last name to sound less Italian. It went from 'Monteleone' to 'Monte.' "

"My dad is from Naples." Blaise said. "Mum's from France. Do you know any Italian or did you not bother, being from America?"

"I don't speak much, but I know a few phrases. I'm not quite fluent."

"I speak Greek." Daphne said. "I started learning because Daphne is Greek for laurel."

"If your mum is from France, Blaise, do you speak any French?"

"Not much." He frowned. "I've spent most of my holidays in Italy so I never needed to learn it much."

Susan spoke up. "My auntie takes me to Germany sometimes, I know a little of that."

The five second-years talked animatedly about their travels and didn't notice the time going by until they had to get out of the carriage and go to the Great Hall. They all separated to sit with their houses and Dante was getting more worried again about Harry and Ron's absence. He could see Fred and George Weasley along with Percy, but no Ron and no Ginny. Ginny of course was out on the lake right now so that wasn't concerning. Where could they be?

After a while, everyone was seated and the doors to the Great Hall opened again. Professor McGonagall came striding into the hall with all of the first years behind her. She set a stool down in front of the staff table just as she had done last year and placed the Sorting Hat down on it.

Dante knew that the Sorting Hat was singing, but he wasn't paying attention to that at all. By this point he was positively alarmed by Harry and Ron's absence. He was looking wildly around the Gryffindor table, but saw no trace of them. Hermione could feel his panic and stroked his arm to try to soothe him, but he could feel that she was worried as well.

When the Sorting and the Start of Term Feast was over, they were lead by their Gryffindor Prefects up to Gryffindor tower to be told the new password. When they heard that it was 'Wattlebird,' they hung around outside in the corridor, waiting to see if either of them would make an appearance. They checked their watches repeatedly, panic was still rising in both of their chests when finally they heard fast footsteps heading towards them.

"There you two are!" Hermione said, very annoyed.

"We missed the train." Harry said, clutching a stitch in his side.

"How'd you get here, then?" Dante asked.

"What's the password?" Ron asked impatiently.

"It's 'Wattlebird' but that's not the point!"

"What is the point then, Hermione?" Ron asked angrily.

"The point, Ronald, is that nobody had any clue where you were. You had us so worried that something had happened to you!"

"We, er, we flew here." Harry said sheepishly.

Dante and Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously at them. "How?" Dante asked.

"My dad's car." Ron mumbled. "It's enchanted to fly, you see."

Dante was furious at their stupid plan. Something of his rage must have shown on his face because Harry and Ron looked startled. "So you two flew a car from London all the way up here… Did… Did you not think that anyone would see the damn thing?" Dante asked.

"Dante!" Hermione chided, swatting his shoulder. "They were foolish, but that's no reason for you to use language like that!"

"It can turn invisible, too!" Ron half-heartedly defended. "It just… stopped turning invisible."

"So where have you two parked the flying car?" Dante asked. Harry and Ron exchanged guilty looks. "Well?"

"We crashed it into a tree." Harry muttered.

"A tree that hits back." Ron said, holding up his wand. It was snapped in two, held together by a few splinters.

"Lucky that wasn't your neck." Hermione scolded.

"That's what I said when it happened." Harry said defensively.

"Well at least you two didn't die before the school year even started." Hermione said icily. "Let's go to common room." She said before opening the portrait and storming into the common room to throw herself onto one of the couches.

Harry and Ron exchanged looks then followed Dante and Hermione into the Gryffindor common room. "Sorry about making you two worry about us, we didn't know how to get to Hogwarts after we missed the train."

"How'd the rest of the Weasleys get on the train?" Dante asked.

"The gateway to the Platform sealed before we could get through. We were running late, but there would have been time for us to get on if the gateway didn't seal for another five seconds." Harry explained.

"I didn't know that the gateway sealed. Why would it do that? Parents would want to come back." Dante said, scratching his head.

"I don't know, but Ron and I made a bit of a scene when we tried to get through."

Dante snorted. " 'A bit of a scene?' "

"We crashed into the barrier instead of running through it."

"You two did a fair amount of crashing today, haven't you?" Dante said, slightly amused.

"You wouldn't be joking around if you had been the one to crash into that tree." Ron said.

"Snape said that tree was called the Whomping Willow. The thing tried to kill us." Harry supplied.

"Well, you did just crash a car into it." Dante reasoned. "It was defending itself."

"You sound like Hagrid." Ron said chuckling.

When Harry and Ron went up to bed, Dante sat down next to Hermione on the couch. She was still furious at them, but Dante felt a little bad about snapping at them. "I just can't believe they would do something like that." She whispered.

"They did come after us when there was a troll in the castle. It's hardly out of character."

"I know, it's just frustrating. I don't want to never see my friends again because they did something stupid. They're lucky they didn't die or even get expelled."

"We're not really known for our caution either, Hermione."

"Oh, please." She said coldly. "We're not that bad."

"We jumped into a hole guarded by a giant three headed dog to the tune of Tetris."

"But that's... "

"Not too different. They saw only one way to get here and took it. We saw only one way to stop Voldemort," Hermione shuddered. "From getting the stone and we did it... Didn't you say 'Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself' just last week?"

"But stealing a car and flying here!"

"I didn't claim that it was smart. Just that it was the only way they saw to get here."

"They can be so thick sometimes." Hermione groaned. "They could have contacted someone, waited on the platform for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come back. They would have been able to come that way. They would have probably floo'd here."

"I bet that's what McGonagall has told them or will tell them when she gets a hold of them."

Hermione groaned again and planted her head on Dante's chest. "I just wish they would think sometimes before acting."

Dante held her close and closed his eyes. "I know."

"There's something else… When you scolded them with your profanity… Did you know that your eyes flashed for a moment?"

Dante opened his eyes. "What do you mean, they flashed?"

"There was a moment when I could see a white flash in your eyes. It looked rather frightening."

"Probably just a reflection." Dante mused.

"No, I swear! It wasn't anything like that. It wasn't just white, it sort of had a magenta hue to it. That isn't a color that would be reflected off your eyes. The light came from them."

"Huh… Weird." Dante looked down at Hermione's head and placed a kiss on the top of it. "We can worry about that later, I think. I doubt it's serious."

"You're probably right about that." She said, smiling into his chest. "Well I'm glad we're all here now. Let's go to bed." She picked her head up and gave him a kiss before walking up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.

He followed suit up the boy's staircase and went to his new dormitory with the number 2 on the door. He changed into his night clothes and crawled into bed. After a brief, silent goodnight to Hermione, he fell asleep.

He was sitting in Hermione's bedroom in Epsom on her bed and she was there with him. They leaned in for a kiss, then that kiss quickly became a snog. Her mouth opened and he felt her tongue slide across his lips, asking for entrance. Opening his, their tongues wrestled for dominance. He could feel her hands roaming on his back, but instead of them being soothing, they were making him excited. His hands began to roam over her back and on her hips. She was making some strange moaning noise into the kiss and soon her hands found their way to his front, massaging his chest. He slid his hands to her stomach and began trailing them up towards her chest. One of her daring hands slid down his stomach, passed his navel, and…

He woke up breathing heavily. He just had one of _those_ dreams! He felt wrong, dirty, he was happy with where his relationship with Hermione was right now. The problem was his body's reaction to this dream; he was at full mast at the thought of being with Hermione in that way and for that he felt ashamed.

He made his way stealthily to the showers and took a cold one to calm himself down. When he was clean and his body decent, he went down to the common room to find Hermione bent over one of Lockhart's books. He sat down next to her, making her jump in surprise.

"Dante! You scared me!"

"Sorry. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine." She mumbled. She was blushing slightly and didn't look like she wanted to elaborate.

Dropping the subject, he kissed her cheek. "Do you want to go down for breakfast?"

She placed a bookmark in _Gadding with Ghouls_ and put it in her bag. "Of course!" She beamed at him. "I was waiting for you to come down to do just that."

They made their way down to the Great Hall and tucked into breakfast. Dante piling his plate up with sausages and eggs, while Hermione preferred porridge with honey. Harry and Ron made their way blearily down to breakfast and sat across from them, tucking in as well. Ron still hadn't figured out how to swallow his food before speaking and every time he tried to speak, he'd spray some food out.

"Mate, please." Dante pleaded, backing away from Ron. "I'd rather not wear your premasticated food."

"My what?" Ron asked thickly through another mouthful. Harry looked like this reminded him of something unpleasant.

"The food that you can't contain in your mouth, Ronald. Swallow first, for heaven's sake." Hermione scolded.

Ron took a big gulp, looking like he was about to choke on how much food he'd swallowed. "What does it matter?"

"Well, I did just say that I'd rather not wear what you're eating." Dante said. "Whenever you talk with your mouth full like that, little particles go flying out of your mouth. I would very much prefer if they didn't land on me."

Before Ron could say much more, an owl crashed on the table, landing in a large bowl of hash browns. "Bloody bird's a menace." He muttered darkly.

"Is that your owl, Ron?" Dean asked.

Ron paled when he saw the letter on the owl. "Oh, no!"

"Look everyone!" Seamus sniggered. "Weasley's got himself a Howler!"

"Go on, Ron." Neville said, shivering. "I ignored one from my Gran once. It was horrible."

Ron fumbled with the seam of the envelope, which was now smoking slightly at the corners, it looked to Dante like it was going to explode. When he popped the seal of the letter, Dante thought the thing had indeed exploded, with all the noise it made.

"**Ronald Weasley!**" Came Molly Weasley's shrieking voice. "**I cannot believe you! Stealing the car, I wouldn't have been surprised if they expelled you, you wait 'til I get a hold of you, I don't suppose you stopped to think what your father and I went through when we saw it was gone-**"

Dante was very aware that the entire Hall was watching them right now and it made him very uncomfortable, though he knew what he was feeling was nothing compared to Ron.

"**\- Letter from Dumbledore last night, thought your father would die of shame, we didn't bring you up to behave like this, you and Harry could have both died-**"

Now Harry was looking deeply ashamed and Dante was really feeling bad about snapping at the two of them.

"**\- Absolutely disgusted! Your father's facing an inquiry at work, it's entirely your fault and if you put another toe out of line we'll bring you straight back home!**" The Howler finished it's message and burst into flame. The Hall rang with stunned silence for a moment and Ron just stared, pale faced, at the place where the letter had been. The silence lifted after a moment and everyone got back to their breakfast, talking animatedly and filling the Hall with the familiar buzz. Harry, Hermione and Dante, however, just gave Ron sympathetic looks. Hermione had evidently decided that he'd been punished enough for yesterday and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

They got their timetables and made their way to their first lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins. Dante caught Daphne and Blaise looking at them warily on their way to class and soon found out why. "Hey Weasel-bee!"

"Not now, Malfoy, or I'll curse your mouth shut." Ron mumbled.

"Do you think that's wise, Weasley?" He put on a shrill voice. " 'If you put another toe out of line!' " Pansy Parkinson cackled behind him.

"Yeah, you've got a point there, Draco." Dante said, stepping forward. "But seeing as I haven't received a warning like that, I'm not too afraid of you."

"How dare you talk to me?"

"I also seem to remember knocking you out last year with a stunner to the face. Care for a repeat?" He said, exposing his wand. Malfoy just glared at him. "Move along, then, Draco. Don't let us keep you."

When Malfoy had stalked off, Daphne and Blaise fell into step with the four of them. "What d'you want?" Ron asked bitterly.

"Easy, Ron." Dante said. "Daphne and Blaise are pretty nice."

"We hate the git as much as you do, believe me." Blaise said.

Daphne and Hermione talked about how excited they were to be in Lockhart's class while Harry, Blaise and Dante talked about how little they thought of him already. Ron just walked in silence, probably still too embarrassed about breakfast to say anything.

When they got to the classroom and found their seats, Dante's suspicions about the size of Lockhart's ego turned out to be wrong. The man seemed even more vain than he thought possible with the decorations of the classroom. Every wall was covered in portraits of himself. One of them was even a portrait of himself painting a portrait of himself. Dozens of dazzling smiles around the room and it made Dante feel an intense dislike for the teacher already.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor…" Lockhart said in his suave tone. "Me." He flashed another one of his dazzling smiles. "Gilderoy Lockhart! Order of Merlin: Third Class, Honorary member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile award. But I don't talk about that! I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" He gave a sickening chuckle, well, it was sickening to Dante. The girls in the class looked enraptured by him.

"Now!" He said, drawing his wand and changing abruptly to a serious tone. "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind." He rapped on what looked like a bird cage covered by a cloth. The cage began to rattle and strange noises could be heard from inside. "Know only that no harm can befall you here, I must ask you not to scream… It might provoke them!" He whipped off the cover to reveal about twenty electric blue pixies in the cage.

Seamus couldn't contain himself anymore. "Cornish Pixies?" He sniggered, incredulous.

"Freshly caught Cornish Pixies!" Lockhart said proudly, but Seamus was still laughing. "Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, these pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters! Let's see what you make of them!" He opened the cage and the pixies shot out like bullets. They immediately began tearing the room apart, causing chaos everywhere. "Come on round them up! Round them up, they're only pixies!"

"You're the professor, why don't you show us how to do just that?" Dante said furiously.

"Of course!" He held out his wand. "Peskipiksie Pesternomi!" He called out.

It had absolutely no effect. One pixie even snatched his wand out of his hand. Looking back, he saw two pixies seize Neville by the ears and begin to hoist him up off the ground. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the one of them. "Stupefy!" A red jet hit the pixie holding onto Neville's right ear, sending it sailing across the room. He shot another stunner at the one on his left and Neville was released.

Hermione stood up and pulled out her own wand. "Immobulus!" She cried and all of the pixies in the room froze. Dante felt the wave of self satisfaction coming from Hermione and he couldn't help but feel that she deserved to feel good about that charm. Especially considering their esteemed professor.

When they were dismissed to leave, Dante was quite happy to be out of there. "Brilliant man, he is." He heard Ron say darkly.

"He just made a mistake." Hermione said impatiently.

"Hermione, he had no clue what he was doing." Dante said. "What did that charm he cast do? How did he get caught so off guard by pixies that he lost his wand to one?"

"Rubbish."

"Mate, I think you have competition for Hermione."

"What?" She spluttered, looking indignant.

"I reckon you fancy Lockhart." Ron said smugly.

"I do not!" She said furiously.

"He does look rather dashing, doesn't he?" Dante said.

"Oh, yes he does!" Hermione said smiling and looking distracted.

"Called it." Ron said.

"What?"

"You fancy him. He's just a pretty face, Hermione."

"He is not! Look at all the things he's done!"

"He says he's done." Harry muttered.

Dante could tell that Hermione thought the idea of him faking his accomplishments far fetched, but seeing his performance today all but convinced him that the man was a fraud. He also felt something unfamiliar, he was jealous of Lockhart. Lockhart had managed to render Hermione completely smitten on looks alone.

Hermione slowed down and pulled Dante back with her, telling the other two to walk ahead, they'd catch up in a moment. "Please, Dante. I know you know better than this."

"I know, I can't help it I guess."

"You know that I'm with you forever. I'll never leave you. Not even for Professor Lockhart."

"D'you know, I'm going to have a hard time calling him 'Professor.' " He sighed. "I know, you're stuck with me. It's just… I couldn't help but feel a little upset at how… infatuated you seem with him."

"I promise you that _Professor_ Lockhart won't come between us." Hermione said, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll tell you some more to convince you after classes today. I don't want what I tell you to be a distraction." She gave him a wink and walked to catch up with Harry and Ron.

After their classes that day, the four of them made their way over to common room and Dante impatiently waited for Harry and Ron to get bored and go up to bed. When they had, Hermione leaned in and kissed him. "I know you've been waiting to hear what I had to say." She gave him a look that Dante didn't recognise. Her eyes seemed darker somehow. "You actually brought it up this morning. You asked how I slept."

Dante gulped. Was she saying what he thought she was?

"I had the most wonderful dream last night." She said, giving him another kiss. "It was just the two of us…" Another kiss. "In my bed…" Another. "And we were doing something that we hadn't done yet." Now she was snogging him. Dante couldn't help his reaction to her. He felt a tightening in his pants at their kissing and he didn't know what to do with it. When they broke apart for air, she kept talking. "I was only disappointed that the dream ended, Dante. It ended before we even got anywhere."

Dante was blushing furiously, but tried to maintain his composure. "Is that something you'd like to try, then?"

"I think you know the answer to that, Mr. Monte." She said with a wink.

"Here?"

In answer, she scooted closer to him and sat on his lap, straddling him. "I think so." She mused and began snogging him again.

Dante held her close and began fondling her back the way he'd done in his dream. "I do believe, Miss Granger, that we've had the same dream." He said before kissing her neck. He didn't know why he did that, it just felt right. He needed her closer to him. He needed to feel her skin.

"Evenin' you two." Said a voice that made Dante groan in disappointment.

"Dear, oh dear, my better looking twin, things are looking rather steamy in here."

"Indeed my slightly less attractive brother, they are."

"I do believe that we might have interrupted something, though."

"Judging by the hateful looks that this young couple is giving us, I'm inclined to agree."

"Should we tell them that perhaps there are better places for fun like this?"

"I would say so, but I'm getting the feeling that we've rather killed the mood between them. Bless."

"At least in the future the two best students will be smart enough to have their fun in private."

"And not in the middle of the common room when anyone can walk in and interrupt."

Dante decided to cut off the twins before they could continue. "Point taken. We'll just go to bed, then."

Hermione got up from his lap and Dante crossed his legs uncomfortably. He was once again at full mast and this time there was a pair of prankster twins about five feet away from him.

"Empty classroom, at the end of the sixth floor corridor. Left side." Twin one said.

"Colloportus to lock the door." Twin two said.

"Happy snogging, handsome." They said together and left.

When Dante finally was calm enough to go upstairs without an obvious tent in his trousers, he sank into his mattress and groaned. What a day.


	12. Year 2 Chapter 2

Harry left early in the morning to go down to his first Quidditch practice. A short while later, Dante, Ron and Hermione went down to the pitch to watch him. Dante and Hermione hadn't let themselves be too affectionate after being caught by Fred and George; They were too embarrassed by the whole thing and settled on simple kisses and hand holding. That didn't stop the twins from winking at the pair of them and teasing them about it, but at least it wasn't mean spirited.

He and Hermione, of course, brought a couple of books with them to study while they were there. Dante had checked out the books on Protean Charms again and brought those to look through. He was beginning to understand them now, and he was sure that he would be able to perform them soon. Instead of getting a chance to look through them this morning, though, the Gryffindor team wasn't able to practice. The Slytherins were standing out in the middle of the pitch.

The three of them walked quickly down to see the confrontation between the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams. Once they were down on the pitch, they could hear Oliver Wood speaking. "What are you doing here, Flint?"

"Quidditch practice."

"I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today."

"Easy, Wood. I've got a note." Flint said with a smug grin. "From Professor Snape." He handed a small scroll of parchment to Wood.

Oliver read aloud. " '_I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give permission for the Slytherin team to use the Quidditch Pitch today, owing to their need to train their new Seeker._' You've got a new Seeker. Who?"

The Slytherins parted and Draco Malfoy stepped forward, looking full of himself. "I am."

"He's not the only new thing this year." Flint said, presenting his broomstick.

Ron gasped. "Those are Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones! How did you get those?"

"A gift from Draco's father." Flint said with a grin.

"You see, Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best."

"At least nobody on Gryffindor's team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent." Hermione said defiantly.

Draco glared at her and stepped forward. "Nobody asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood." He sneered.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Ron said, his face red with rage. "Eat slugs!"

He flicked his wand and a flash of green light shot out of the split in his wand, knocking him backwards. Harry, Dante and Hermione ran over to Ron, who was sprawled out on the grass. "Are you okay, Ron?" Hermione asked frantically. Ron looked like he was desperately trying not to vomit. They got him sat upright and patted his back. "Say something!" She demanded.

Ron opened his mouth and a large slug spilled out of his mouth onto the ground. A bright flash happened and Dante looked around. "Wow, Harry! Can you turn him around?" Colin Creevey asked eagerly.

"No, Colin, get out of the way!" Harry said angrily before he and Dante hooked his arms over their shoulders. "We'll go to Hagrid's." Harry said before another slug slipped out of Ron's mouth. "He'll know what to do!" Harry stammered.

They hauled Ron to Hagrid's hut, ignoring the jeering from the Slytherins behind them. Every couple of paces, Ron would spew forth another slug, grimacing. Finally, the four of them arrived at the hut and Hermione knocked frantically at the door. "Alrigh' you four? Wha's wrong with Ron?" Hagrid said, bidding them inside and fetching a bucket.

"Curse backfired." Dante panted, a little winded from half carrying Ron.

"Ah. Nothin' to do 'cept wait 'til it stops, I'm afraid. That curse is hard enough, even with a working wand." Hagrid said gruffly. "Who was Ron tryin' to curse, anyway?"

"Malfoy." Harry said. "He called Hermione… well I don't know what it means."

"He called her a mudblood." Dante supplied.

Hagrid gasped, looking back and forth between Dante and Hermione. "He did not!"

"I don't know what it means, but I knew it was really rude, of course." Hermione said shyly.

"It means dirty blood." Ron said between slugs. Another sickening plop and he spoke again. "Mudblood is a really foul name for someone with non-magic parents." A few more slugs spewed out after these words.

"So it's another word for muggleborn, then?" Dante asked.

"Dante, Hermione, there are some wizarding families, like the Malfoys, who think they're better than anyone else because they're what they call pure blood." Hagrid explained.

"That's horrible." Harry said, aghast.

"And it's codswallop to boot!" Hagrid added angrily. "There isn't a wizard alive that isn't half-blood or less. They haven't come up with a spell that Dante or Hermione can't cast!"

Understanding washed over Dante. "Got it. It's a bit like… Well… My, er, my dad has an Italian word that he uses sometimes to describe certain people."

"Don't you two think on it." Hagrid said seriously. "There's nothin' to what the idiot says."

"I know." Hermione said.

Dante smirked. "The moron can't take me in a duel, that's for sure."

"You two are bloody brilliant!" Harry said. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Ron and I are like trolls compared to you."

Another wet plop. "Speak for yourself." Ron muttered.

The mood lightened considerably after this, and the four of them sat and talked happily, only occasionally being interrupted by Ron vomiting another slug. Once the slugs stopped coming up, they made their way back up to the castle. Once they made their way into the Entrance Hall, they were stopped by Professor McGonagall. "Messrs Potter and Weasley, we need to talk about your detentions. Mr. Potter, Professor Lockhart has personally requested that you serve your detention with him. You'll be helping him answer his fan mail. Mr. Weasley, you'll be with Mr. Filch cleaning the trophy room. No magic."

Both Harry and Ron blanched. "Professor, please, can I swap with Ron?"

"Certainly not." McGonagall said briskly. "I cannot allow you to choose your own detention, that would defeat the purpose. You will report to Professor Lockhart's office at six o'clock this evening. Mr. Weasley, you will report to the Trophy Hall at the same time." She swept away, leaving Harry and Ron glowering.

"I can't believe I'm going to be answering fan mail." Harry muttered darkly.

"Filch'll have me there all night! And no magic!"

"I'd trade any time with you."

"Well, it'll only be one night." Dante supplied. "One detention and it'll be over. I'm honestly surprised that you two didn't get more than that."

When Harry and Ron left to go to their detentions, Dante and Hermione stayed in the common room reading. Dante was fully engrossed in the Protean Charms. He was understanding how they worked now, thanks to help from Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. He pulled out the notebook that he got for Christmas last year along with his wand. His face hardened in concentration as he went through the steps in his mind.

Hermione looked up from her books and watched open-mouthed as he began muttering incantations. After a moment, the small leatherbound journal began to glow a soft gold before stretching. The notebook continued to stretch, doubling its width before splitting into two identical notebooks. Dante breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. "That was just the duplication charm, wasn't it? Do you know the Protean?"

"I think so. Sorry, I just need to concentrate." He said quietly before his face grew hard again. He pointed his wand at one of the copies and muttered more incantations before the two journals began to glow blue this time. "I think I did it. That's what it's supposed to look like when it happens." He pulled out a quill and ink pot and wrote in one of the notebooks.

"_Saturday, September 15th, 2007. I believe I have just successfully charmed the notebook._"

Hermione picked the other up and looked inside. "Did you just write today's date?"

"I did. Along with-"

"You have 'successfully charmed the notebook.' It worked!" Hermione cheered. "That's incredible!"

"Now I only need to do that five more times!"

Hermione giggled. "I'm so proud of you! I knew you could do it!"

Dante leaned in and kissed her. "Thank you for helping me with what you could."

"Of course. I expect you to return the favor, though, Mr. Monte." She said happily.

"Wouldn't dream of turning you down, future Mrs. Monte." He said glibly.

This earned him another kiss. "Do you have the other notebooks that you want to charm?"

"No. I'll get them over Christmas break. I had a thought about the ones that I give to Harry. His aunt and uncle may not appreciate him having a large notebook like these. I'll probably give him ones that are small enough for him to hide in his pockets."

Hermione nodded. "Probably for the best. Even still, they'll just look like notebooks. Why should they care about that?"

"I don't want to give them an excuse to take them away." He paused. "Oh! There's another thing I need to test!" He rummaged through his bag and found a muggle pencil. "I need to see if ordinary writing utensils will work on it." He scribbled a meaningless note in one book, saw it appear in the other, and repeated the process the other way round. "Excellent. Excellent, I've done it!" He cheered proudly.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" Hermione said, full of admiration.

"And you." He said happily. "I don't believe for a second that you wouldn't be able to do this stuff if you worked on it."

"I don't know." Hermione said dismissively.

"I know you could, because Charms is your area. I'm still most confident in Transfiguration."

"And yet, here you are, doing sixth year Charms work."

"I can do one thing from sixth year Charms. I don't know anything else that they would be doing. Plus I only know how to do this one thing because I spent almost a year researching how to do it."

"True." Hermione conceded. "It just goes to show you, though. I was right. You'll be a great wizard someday. You already are."

"Do you want me to help you find something that you'd like to research? A project for yourself just like this was for me?"

Hermione put her hand to her chin and thought for a while. "I'll have to think about what I want to do. It might be good for me to have something like that."

Dante smiled. "We can do whatever we want. We just need to find something that we want to put the time and effort into and we'll pull it off." He put the Protean books away and pulled out his favorite book to read through: _Introduction to Dueling: Technique and Tactics_. He loved this book, mostly because Hermione gave it to him, though it also was extremely helpful. After having it for only a week, he was able to cast Stupefy on his first attempt. The book was full of different styles of dueling, friendly and combative. One of the more obscure styles of dueling the book mentioned was dual wielding, or using a wand in each hand. The book didn't go into much detail, but it did say that being able to dual cast was a rare ability that requires incredible concentration.

The concept of dual casting was actually a rather simple one. It goes exactly the way one could imagine. "_**The trouble is maintaining the spells cast by both wands. Casting spells with two separate wands necessarily divides your focus, thus limiting the power behind the individual spells. Another problem is the wands themselves. Dual casting works best when done with wands of complementary cores. This doesn't mean the same core, but a core that can synergize with the other.**_" The only example given in the book was how phoenix feather wands complement thunderbird wands. The two cores are able to play on each other's strengths and amplify each other.

Upon reading all of this, Dante made a mental note to look into getting a thunderbird wand. He couldn't help but think that it would be fitting for him to have one, thunderbirds were native to the continental United States. Him having his phoenix wand and a thunderbird wand would reflect himself. An American wand and a British one, wielded by one wizard born in America and brought into the wizarding world in Britain. Yes, he would definitely need to call on Mr. Rooney's services to get a secondary wand.

Shortly after eight o'clock, Harry and Ron made their way through the portrait hole into the common room. "Why am I not surprised that you two are looking over books?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Oy!" Dante said in mock outrage. "Keep it up, Potter, and you won't be getting any help on your homework."

Fear flashed on Harry and Ron's faces before they realised that he was joking. "So what are you working on?"

"Well," Dante started and grinned at the boys, "I've completed my research on the Protean Charm."

"Oh?" Harry said. "You can do it, then?"

Dante tossed one of the notebooks to Harry, who caught it easily. He then began to write. '_I've managed to charm the notebooks. Neat, huh?_'

Harry watched as the words appeared in the notebook, Ron peering over his shoulder. "Brilliant!" He said. "You should show this to McGonagall! I bet she'd give you loads of points for it."

"Ooh, good point. I should do that before I write anything too personal in there. Right now, this pair is the only one. I need to make five more to let the four of us all talk to each other over the summer."

"Mate, even this will be hard to sneak by my aunt and uncle."

"I know. I've got something planned for yours. I might even look into some charms to make the ones I give you harder for muggles to notice them. I don't know, but even if I don't get that to work, the ones I give you will be small enough for you to hide in a pocket and not look like there's much there." Dante explained.

Hermione looked up from her books finally. "How do you two feel after your detentions?"

The boys glowered. "I had a slug attack on one of the trophies. Filch had me scrubbing that one for an hour."

"I never want to see the color purple again." Harry grumbled.

Hermione scoffed. " 'Purple?' What's wrong with purple?"

"Yeah, Harry, why are you disrespecting my favorite color?" Dante asked, feigning hurt.

"Lockhart uses purple ink. I had to write with one of his quills and listen to him give me 'advice' about my celebrity status."

"Honestly, Harry, _Professor_ Lockhart can't be that bad. He just doesn't want you to lose your head with your fame." Hermione said dismissively.

Dante fought hard, he really did, to hold back a scoff, but he couldn't hold it back. "Hermione… Have you noticed all of the pictures of himself in the classroom?"

"So what?"

"I think Lockhart is the last person to be teaching anyone about humility."

"I don't want to be humiliated!" Harry said, shocked.

"No, no, humility is like… just being humble. You're thinking of humiliation." Dante explained and Harry relaxed. "Ron, have the slugs stopped coming yet?"

"The last one was pretty early in the detention. I'm either due for another one, or I've gotten them all out."

"Try to avoid the books, then, if it does come up." Hermione said. "Honestly, boys, I don't see what your problem is with Professor Lockhart."

"He's a git." Ron said simply, earning a derisive snort from Hermione.

"Doesn't know what he's doing." Harry added.

"And he's rather full of himself." Dante finished.

"He's done so much!" Hermione said exasperatedly. "Of course he's confident!"

"He _says_ he's done so much!" Harry said. "After the pixies, I can't exactly bring myself to trust his account of things."

"Neither can I!" Ron said.

"Nor I."

"Why would he lie about all that?"

The boys just stared at her and Dante adjusted his voice to do an impressive impersonation of Lockhart's suave tone. " 'Honorary member of the Dark Force Defence League and five time winner of Witch Weekly's "Most Charming Smile" award.' "

Harry and Ron smirked at the impression while Hermione still looked dismissive. "I don't see your point."

"Ron, Harry, does that sound like someone who likes the attention?"

"Why yes, Dante, it does indeed."

"I'm inclined to agree, Dante. I do believe it sounds exactly like someone who craves attention." Harry added.

"He did great things. He deserves to be recognised for them."

"Why, Hermione, would you consider 'five time winner of Witch Weekly's "Most Charming Smile" award' to be a great thing?"

"Well that's not anything too important." Hermione said with a frown.

"We just don't trust him."

"Yeah, and I bet if you didn't fancy him, you'd be agreeing with us!" Ron said.

"Rubbish! I do _not _fancy him!" Hermione said defensively.

"Yeah?" Ron asked. "Then why are all of the Defense lessons on your schedule outlined with little hearts?"

"You didn't!" Dante gasped at her. He was trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it, but Hermione was blushing furiously. He moved his hand up to his mouth and bit down on one of his fingers to stifle his laughter. When she didn't deny drawing the hearts, Dante managed to control himself long enough to say, "Oh dear." Before falling into laughter.

Hermione looked daggers at him before her expression cracked and she couldn't hold back her laughter. "Fine. Fine. I can't help it."

"And you're okay with that, Dante?" Ron asked smirking.

"I'm fairly confident that Hermione is not going to leave me for a man who is a decade and a half older than us."

"Never know, Dante. When we graduate those years won't seem like so much anymore." Harry said with a smirk of his own.

"I'd sooner die." Dante said. "Literally. I would die if she got with someone else."

"That's not true, Dante. It would only hurt you."

"Well, I'm talking about in order for you to be romantic with anyone else, I would have to die first. And vice versa."

"What are you two talking about?" Ron asked, confusion evident on his face.

"We're soul bonded!" Hermione beamed at him. When he remained confused, Hermione set about explaining the bond to him and Harry.

"It comes with some… less than desirable effects." Dante said.

"Such as?" Ron asked.

"Remember Voldequirrell?"

"Yeah?" They said.

"Remember that I was strangled?"

The color drained from Harry's face. "No…"

"Yep."

"Bloody hell, Hermione! You were strangled, too?"

"Language, Ronald! And yes, I was."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Harry demanded.

"I'm sorry, Harry!" Hermione pleaded. "I didn't want you to worry! I also didn't know if Dante was okay with letting anyone know about us!"

"And I didn't know if Hermione was okay with letting anyone know. Right now there are five other people who know about us. Her parents, my parents, and my sister."

"Unless, of course, one of the teachers figures it out or has figured it out." Hermione added.

"When did you find out?" Harry asked.

"About two minutes after you left us in the library last year. That time after Christmas."

"Of course you two would do something like that in the bloody library." Ron snorted.

"I still reckon you should spend more time in the library, Ron. You wouldn't need as much help with your homework." Dante said.

"Anyway," Harry cut in. "You two can talk telepathically?" The couple nodded. "So if one of you doesn't know the answer to a question on a test…"

Dante raised a hand to stop Harry, but Hermione spoke before he did. "If you think I would use this to cheat, Harry, you're sorely mistaken."

"And that goes both ways. Theoretically, we could do just that, but we don't. Especially because we're brilliant."

"And just a little while ago, you were complaining about Professor Lockhart's lack of humility."

"Mine is ironic."

"Hypocrisy, thy name is Dante!" Hermione scolded.

"Oy! I just said that I fake it!" Dante protested before noticing Hermione wink at him.

"You two look like an old married couple, arguing like that." Ron said grinning.

"Well," Dante started.

"Technically," Hermione continued, and the couple started bouncing back and forth, explaining.

"We are."

"But we also aren't."

"No rings, no vows."

"But we're still magically bound."

"So technically she's Mrs. Monte."

"But we haven't had a ceremony yet."

"And we won't do that until we finish seventh year."

Harry and Ron looked like they were shaking their heads 'no' as they tried to keep up. When they finished, Harry and Ron exchanged glances. "It's like bloody Fred and George all over again." Ron muttered.

"So if one of us found someone like that…" Harry began.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, mate." Dante cut across. "Bear in mind that I had to coincidentally end up enrolled here at Hogwarts and not Ilvermorny."

"Fair enough."

* * *

The next couple of weeks went well. With some encouragement, Harry and Ron's academic performance was improving by leaps and bounds. The four of them were all in the top ten in all classes, except Potions and Defense. Snape wasn't too keen to let Harry have a better time in class, and made sure to criticize the tiniest errors in his potions. He did the same to Dante, of course, after Dante's outburst last year.

Not long after, Harry ran into some trouble with Filch due to some mud that he'd tracked in. While he was in Filch's office, Peeves had knocked over something upstairs and Harry happened to notice a letter on the desk. The letter was for a Kwikspell course, indicating that Filch was a squib. When he came back to the office, Filch was so overcome with embarrassment that he let Harry go without detention. It turned out that Nearly Headless Nick had convinced Peeves to cause a disturbance, and as repayment, Harry agreed to attend Nick's Deathday party on Halloween evening down in the dungeons. Dante, Ron and Hermione of course would attend as well.

Upon showing Professor McGonagall the notebooks, she laughed with delight at her student's accomplishment. She called Professor Flitwick in and he squeaked with happiness. "I don't understand why you aren't in my house, Mr. Monte. This is simply excellent! These charms that you put on, they should last for about five years before the notebooks begin to degrade. They'll be usable for probably another three after that. Fifty points to Gryffindor for an outstanding Protean charm!"

Hermione had come up with a project for herself; She wanted to learn how to make the notebooks unreadable for anyone they didn't belong to. So far, she'd come up with a few options, from simple Notice-me-not charms to some less than desirable blood magic. The blood magic was easily the most effective, but it didn't sit well with Hermione. "I don't like seeing blood." She explained. Deciding to do more research on all options before deciding on one, she put the matter out of her mind.

Halloween came and with it was what Dante and Hermione considered to be their unofficial anniversary. The real one wasn't til the end of the first week of January. Their classes ended quite early that day, at noon. They couple decided to spend their free time walking around the grounds together while Harry was practicing Quidditch and Ron was beating everyone at Wizards Chess in the common room.

The air was a perfect temperature today in Dante's opinion. The breeze only had a slight chill to it. They walked hand in hand to a willow at the shore of the lake. He sat down, leaning back against the trunk, and she sat between his legs, leaning back on his chest. His arms looped around her front and she sighed happily at his touch. They closed their eyes and began to drift off.

"Look at the pair of mudbloods!" A voice sneered, breaking them out of their stupor. Draco was striding towards them with Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and a boy called Nott.

"Good afternoon, Draco." Hermione said happily without so much as a flinch at the slur. She just laid calmly in Dante's lap.

"Don't talk to me, mudblood!" He sneered.

"Oh dear, Draco, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Dante taunted, not moving either.

"You keep your muggle mouth shut as well!"

"You know, back home, should a child use words like that, the parents would force them to suck on a bar of soap to clean out their mouth."

"I do believe that my parents subscribe to the same belief, my boyfriend."

"Would you like to do the honours or shall I?" Dante asked, flicking his wrist to draw his wand.

"I'm rather comfortable here. Why don't you do it?" Hermione said with a grin.

Draco drew his as soon as he saw Dante's. "Everte Statum!" He bellowed.

"Protego!" Dante said with a casual flick of his wand.

"You can't take all of us at once, mudblood!" Pansy growled, while Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles. Nott just stood in the back, watching.

"I probably couldn't take five humans in a fight at once. The five of you? Easy." Dante said, smiling. Finally he and Hermione stood up. "Shall we, then?"

Crabbe and Goyle charged like rhinoceroses at him, apparently ignoring magic altogether. A quick "Petrificus Totalus" from Dante and Hermione left them on the ground, stiff as boards. Pansy shot a stinging hex at Hermione, while Draco cast a knockback jinx at Dante. Dante easily batted away the jinx and fired a stunner at Pansy, knocking her unconscious. Nott fired another Everte Statum at Dante, though it, too, was blocked. Another body bind curse was sent to Nott by Hermione, and now it was just Draco standing against them.

"Do you yield?" Dante asked, pointing his wand menacingly. "Or will I have to knock you out again?"

"Yield to a mudbl-" Draco's speech was cut off by suds pouring out of his mouth. His eyes widened in shock as the bitter taste of soap assaulted his mouth. He tried to cast something, but only feeble sparks came from his wand. Giving it up as a bad job, he ran back to the castle.

"Well, our date was nice while it lasted." Hermione said grumpily.

"Come on. We should be getting ready for the Deathday party anyway."

"Oh, you're right! It'll be fascinating to see one. I doubt many living people have been to one."

The party was miserable. It was freezing in the chamber, all of the ghosts in attendance chilled the students to the bone. There was no food at the party fit for the living to eat, all of it was rotten, apparently to make it easier for the ghosts to not quite taste it. After a while, the four friends gave up on the party and made their way out of the dungeon. As they reached the stairs, Harry's eyes opened wide and he appeared to be straining to hear something. "What is that?"

"What's what, Harry?" Dante asked.

"That voice! Didn't you hear it?"

He, Ron and Hermione just looked at each other.

"I swear I just heard-" He broke off, panic etched onto his face, "It's moving! I think it's going to kill!" He sprinted up the stairs and down the corridor. The others quickly followed him.

"Kill?" Ron panted.

They ran up more stairs to the second floor where their footsteps were accompanied by splashes of water. The floor was covered in water for some reason. Harry stopped and looked around. His eyes locked onto a wall where, written in something red.

"_**The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.**_

_**Enemies of the Heir beware.**_"

"It's written in blood…" Hermione said, looking ill.

"Oh no…" Ron said, looking down at the floor. A line of spiders was scuttling past them towards the windows.

"I've never seen spiders act like that before…" Harry mused.

"I don't like spiders." Ron whimpered. Hermione shot him a look of disdain while Dante kept looking around.

His eyes found a torch bracket with something hanging from it. He gasped when he recognised what it was. "Guys…" He said, his voice quivering slightly, "It's Mrs. Norris…"

Harry and Ron whirled round in panic before they saw the cat. Tied by her tail to the torch, she was completely stiff, as if she had been stuffed. Dante prodded her gently to find that she was as hard as stone. What was going on? Suddenly there was a sound like thunder from below them. The Halloween feast had ended and all of the other students were making their way upstairs. The four of them looked between each other in fear before the mob had reached the top of the stairs and people began to surround them.

" 'Enemies of the Heir beware?' " Said the same voice that Dante and Hermione dealt with earlier. "You'll be next, mudbloods!"

"What's going on up here?" Growled Filch, pushing his way through the crowd. "Come on, make way, make way." He stopped and looked at the four of them. "Potter… What are you…" He glanced over to the cat and his eyes widened in shock. "Mrs. Norris?" He said weakly. He strode over to Harry and seized the front of his robes. "You've murdered my cat." Harry stammered his denial, "I'll kill you… **I'll kill you!**"

"Argus!" Said a new voice. "Argus, I…" Dumbledore now noticed the cat and turned to face the crowd. "Everyone, go back to your dormitories. Everyone except you four." He said, gesturing to the four Gryffindors.

Dante glanced over at Hermione. '_I guess Halloween isn't a very lucky day, is it?_'

Hermione snorted, but quickly schooled herself when she saw the look that Snape gave her. "What is so funny, Miss Granger?"

"I was just laughing at something Dante said, sir." She said meekly.

"Oh? But I didn't hear anything. Are you hearing voices in your head, Miss Granger?"

"She and Dante are soul bonded, sir." Harry said.

"That's impossible, Mr. Potter. I won't have any cheek from you I-"

"Severus, I don't think Harry was lying. Is it true, Miss Granger? Mr. Monte?"

"Yes, sir." They said together, then Dante added "Since January."

"Interesting, but not relevant." The headmaster said quietly, before walking over to Mrs. Norris. He prodded her with his wand and muttered some incantations before her body glowed blue for a moment. "She's not dead, Argus."

"Not… Not dead? But she's?"

"She's not dead, but she has been petrified. We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand, Professor Sprout has a healthy growth of mandrakes, we'll be able to make some restorative draught to set her right."

"My cat has been petrified. I want to see some punishment!"

"If I may, headmaster, perhaps Mr. Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." Snape sneered. "However, the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, do not recall seeing any of them at the feast."

"We were at Sir Nicholas' Deathday party in the dungeons." Hermione said.

"We were tired, though, and were going to go up to bed." Dante continued. "Plus it was really cold down there."

"Without any dinner? As far as I know, those parties don't have food fit to eat."

"No, we weren't hungry." Harry said immediately, ignoring the soft rumbling of his stomach.

"Severus, this was done by dark magic. Magic way beyond a few second years."

"Mr. Monte and Miss Granger are well documented as studying magic beyond their year. Perhaps this is more of that."

"We never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry protested. The others nodded emphatically.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore said before addressing the teachers and the four students. "I strongly recommend caution to all. You four may go back to your dormitories."

It was a long, quiet walk back to Gryffindor. So many questions buzzed around in Dante's head. '_What happened to Mrs. Norris? What was the Chamber of Secrets? Who was the "Heir?" Who's heir were they? Should they have told them about the voice Harry heard? Should they have said anything about the bond?_' These questions screamed through his mind while he lay in bed. Never getting satisfying answers, he slowly drifted off.


	13. Year 2 Chapter 3

Dante's progress in the Dueling Club was outstanding by his measure. He was undefeated in his year, only lost three duels to third years while winning twelve, and only lost seven to fourth years while winning ten. An interesting note that Dante and Hermione discovered was that when he was injured in a duel, the injury did not affect Hermione. Whenever Malfoy would curse him while away from a duel, however, they would both be affected. They both figured that it must have something to do with the intent behind the injury. In the Club, the intent was always to defeat Dante in a duel. Malfoy's intent was always to hurt Dante. Hermione had managed to pull off a notice-me-not charm geared towards muggles. She'd charmed an ink pot and gave it to Dante to check if his sister could see it.

"I still wonder though about what we were talking about yesterday. I wonder if we could convince Draco to tell us if he's the Heir."

"Tell _us_? Not a chance." Harry said.

"Crabbe and Goyle must know. Maybe we can trick them into telling us!" Ron said excitedly.

Hermione scoffed. "Even they aren't that thick. Though, there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. And we would be breaking about fifty school rules. And it'll be dangerous, very dangerous."

"If at any point you'd like to tell us, let us know." Ron said, annoyed.

"Fine then." Hermione snapped before storming off to sit at the table.

Harry looked back and forth between Hermione's back and Ron and shook his head exasperatedly. "She would have told us if you weren't a prat about it."

"She was taking too long!" Ron said angrily.

Dante ignored him and sat down next to her, helping himself to some porridge and buttering a crumpet. "Honestly, I don't care. I just don't appreciate you two fighting all the time. It's grating." Hermione shot him a cold look before he silently added. '_Although I know that you rarely start it. Ron is just a git sometimes._"

"I'll probably need to get into the restricted section of the library. I don't know who would give me permission to look in there, though."

"Lockhart'll sign anything that stays still long enough." Harry said, only half-joking.

"There's an idea. Doesn't hurt that you're top of the Defense class, Hermione." Dante said.

"He'll see right through it!" Hermione said.

"Let's try it after breakfast. Do you know what book you'd like to get from there?"

" '_Moste Potente Potions_' I think will be a good help for us."

"We can swing by the library to get a form for Lockhart to sign then head straight to his office." Dante said. "It won't take long for us to get that at all."

"And tonight, we'll all meet in the Dueling Hall. I'd like to try to beat Dante in a duel."

"Oh, you're on, Potter!" Dante said with an evil grin.

The four of them made their way to the library after breakfast and got a permission form for the restricted section. Hermione carefully wrote the name of the book on the indicated line and then nervously walked to Lockhart's office. "Excuse me, Professor?" She asked sheepishly.

"Ah, Miss Granger! How lovely to see you. How can I help you?"

"Er, I was hoping to get this book out of the library for a bit of background reading." She placed the permission slip on his desk. "But the thing is, it's in the restricted section, so I would need a teacher to sign for it. I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in _Gadding with Ghouls_ about slow acting venoms."

"_Gadding with Ghouls_!" Said Lockhart with a wide smile at Hermione. "Possibly my favorite book! You liked it?"

"Oh, yes, very much!" Hermione said eagerly. "So clever, the way you trapped the last one with a tea strainer."

"Well I'm sure no one would mind me giving the best student in the year a bit of help." He said, causing Hermione to go a deep red. He pulled out a peacock feathered quill that Ron and Dante stared at with disgust. "Yes, it's nice, isn't it? I usually save it for book signings."

He signed the form and gave it to Hermione who squeaked a thank you to him and left for the library again. After a quick examination of the form, Madam Pince went to the restricted section and gave Hermione the book. Dante and Harry were beside themselves trying not to laugh at Hermione wanting to keep the signed form. Ron was a bit less polite about it.

"Give it a rest, Hermione!" Ron snapped. "Like Harry said, Lockhart'll sign anything if it stays still long enough."

* * *

Shorty after Halloween, the first Quidditch game of the year was scheduled. Gryffindor vs Slytherin. It would be Harry's first time playing against Draco, and Draco was on a better broom than he was. Watching the game was a terrifying experience for Dante and his friends. They watched helplessly as a rogue Bludger relentlessly pursued Harry, eventually hitting his arm with a crunch that Dante could hear from the stands. Dante was no stranger to broken bones, he'd already lost count of how many times his arm was broken from the dueling club, but seeing it happen to his friend was a little sickening.

When Harry grabbed the Snitch with his left arm, the other was flopping uselessly, he fell off his broom and skidded to a halt on the ground. Despite the game being over, the Bludger did not give up its pursuit of him. It took Fred and George together with Madam Hootch to wrestle the violent ball back into its case. Dante, Ron and Hermione rushed onto the pitch. "How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"I think my arm's broken." Harry said through clenched teeth.

"Not to worry, Harry, we'll get that arm sorted out straight away!" Said a suave voice, making Dante whip round to see Lockhart walking towards them with a dazzling smile.

"No." Harry said angrily. "Not you."

Lockhart chuckled. "Poor boy doesn't know what he's saying."

"I think it would really be better for Madam Pomfrey to look at him." Dante said.

"And leave him with a broken arm that long? Nonsense!"

"I like it like this, actually. Don't bother. I'll keep it broken."

"Come now, Harry." Lockhart said with a simpering smile before kneeling down to inspect the arm. "This won't hurt a bit." Harry just glared at him, which Lockhart took as permission to continue. He pulled up Harry's sleeve and pointed his wand at the arm. "Brakium Emmendo!" He said proudly. A white flash, and Harry's arm seemed deflated. "Ah…" He said quietly, "Yes, that can sometimes happen." He bent Harry's hand backwards over his arm, which might as well been a fleshy noodle. "As you can see, though, the bones are no longer broken."

"Broken?" Said an incredulous Dante. "There's no bones in his arm anymore! Why wouldn't you just let us take him to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes, ah, perhaps you should go there now."

"Can you walk, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." He said, standing up. The boneless arm wiggled in an unsettling way. "I feel lighter on this side."

"Bloody moron." Ron grumbled when Lockhart was out of earshot.

"Ron, it was a mistake!"

"Hermione, when someone vanishes the bones in your arm, you can tell me about mistakes. Until then, I'm going to keep hating Lockhart."

"I'm with Harry on this one. Lockhart is useless." Dante said with a scowl.

"Worse than useless, mate." Ron said darkly.

Hermione huffed. "Honestly, you boys act like you couldn't make a mistake like that."

"If there was a possibility of something like this happening, he should have just you guys get me to the hospital wing. You know how quick Madam Pomfrey is about fixing me up."

"Fine, keep hating the _Professor_ who was just trying to help you, Harry."

"Mr. Potter! What have you done to yourself this time, boy?"

"Broken arm. Bludger." He said darkly as his boneless arm wiggled like a tentacle.

"Right, let me see, then. Good lord! You said it was broken!"

"It was," Harry said, then shot a glare at Hermione. "Then _Professor _Lockhart removed the bones when he tried to fix it."

"That man…" Madam Pomfrey grumbled. "You should have come here straight away. I can mend bones in a heartbeat, but growing them back!"

"You will be able to?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Oh yes, I'll be able to, certainly. But it'll be painful." She said, producing a bottle that looked like a skeleton. "Be warned, Mr. Potter, you're in for a rotten night. Regrowing bones is a nasty business." Harry took the glass of potion that she filled for him and took a sip. As soon as he tipped the liquid into his mouth, he gagged. "What did you expect? Pumpkin juice?"

Madam Pomfrey ushered the three of them out of the hospital wing while Harry stayed behind to regrow his bones. They made their way to Gryffindor tower, grumbling about Lockhart.

Dante and Hermione set about organizing Harry's homework for him, leaving notes to help him finish it. After they were done, Dante had the idea to take Ron and Hermione down to the Dueling Hall to teach them what he knew. A happy coincidence had the three of them come across Daphne on their way downstairs, who happily agreed to come with them.

"Okay, so, the first thing that you should do is make sure that you're loose." Dante started, rolling his shoulders to emphasize the point. "Don't let yourself get too tense, you need to stay agile."

The others made a show of relaxing their muscles and Dante smiled. "Next, you want to find a stance that makes it easy for you move around in any direction, like this. You guys are all right handed so you'll be facing the other way." He stood on the balls of his feet, left foot forward and right foot back, turned to the right. His knees were bent slightly and once again he made a show of being able to quickly move around.

Hermione and Ron were able to emulate this pretty quickly, Daphne seemed off somehow. Deciding the easiest way to show her was to move her himself, Dante asked. "Daphne, do you mind if I put you in the right position?"

She looked up, shocked for a moment, then schooled herself. "Oh, okay."

Dante walked over to her and pushed the back of her knees. "You want to bend the knees slightly." He stepped back, ignoring her blushing and inspected her. "Don't stand on your heels, either. Raise up on the balls of your feet. It makes you more springy."

She did as instructed and he nodded. "I think I'll try to teach you all 'Stupefy.' " He pulled out his wand and demonstrated the jabbing motion that the spell requires. "Move your wand like this, and imagine what you want to happen to the person you hit with it. The clearer your idea of the effect, the more powerful the stunner will be. We don't have a test dummy for that, so we'll have to practice on each other."

Hermione stepped forward and got into the dueling stance that he'd shown. "Let's try it." She said confidently.

"Care to give us a count, Ron?" Dante asked.

"What? Oh, sure, three… two… one!"

"Stupefy!" Hermione cried and a jet of red light shot from her wand. Dante rolled to the side and shot a stunner of his own at his girlfriend. Her eyes widened as she saw it coming, she tried to roll herself, but was hit in the shoulder and fell unconscious.

"Ennervate!" Dante said, pointing at her again and she began to stir.

"You got me!" She said grumpily.

"I'm more experienced. You just need to work on your reaction time." Dante said, pulling her to her feet. "Try again, I won't dodge. I want to see how well you can do the spell."

He stood back and once again Hermione shot a red light at him. Unlike the last time she stunned him, everything went black this time. A moment later, he opened his eyes to see the other three crouched down to check on him. "How long was I out?" He asked as he sat up.

"About a minute." Daphne supplied.

"Excellent!" Dante grinned. "Hermione, you're brilliant. Now, Ron, Daphne, you two try to stun each other." Daphne grinned and stood up to face Ron, who looked nervous. "Ready, Ron? Three… two… one!"

"Stupefy!" Daphne cried and soon Ron was laying on the floor. A few seconds later, he got up, bleary eyed.

"Well done, Daphne!" Dante beamed and she grinned at him. "Come on, Ron. You get a free shot now."

Ron dusted himself off and fired a stunner that hit Daphne in the gut. She crumpled to the floor with a grunt and woke up a moment later. "Brilliant! I can't believe that I can do that!" Ron cheered.

"Now I'm going to show off just avoiding getting hit. The easiest way to beat your opponent is to let them tire themselves out. We're all still quite young, so we don't have the endurance to keep firing spells like nothing. Use your magic wisely and it'll count more when you do. Hermione, duel me. I won't fire any spells at you, I'm just going to either block or evade."

She faced him and began a barrage of spells. "Stupefy! Everte Statum! Rictusempra! Flipendo! Verdimillious! Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!" Bolts of light shot from her wand at Dante, who just ducked and slid out of the way of them. Dante was very limber, and while Hermione didn't have bad aim, he was just too quick to move out of the way. He hadn't even tried blocking yet, his agility was enough to stay out of harm's way. After a few minutes of Hermione trying to hit him with something, she managed to get him with a knockback jinx, sending him to a rather painful landing on his bottom.

He sprung back to his feet with a genuine smile. "Excellent, good work, Hermione! But notice how exhausted you are right now. You've used up so much of your magical energy already and only landed one jinx. When you're up against someone quick like me, you need to try to anticipate their movements. Fake them out. Make them dodge right into your spell if you can." He looked between Ron and Daphne. "Which one of you wants to try to dodge what I throw at you?"

Daphne and Ron exchanged glances. "I'll go." Ron said.

"Okay, Daphne, you cast at Hermione while Hermione dodges." He said before standing across from Ron. He and Daphne raised their wands at their opponents and began casting. Ron turned out to be quite good at dodging spells, Dante actually had to predict his movements in order for anything he cast to hit. Hermione was a bit clumsy on her feet but Dante sent her silent assurances that she would get better with practice.

After about a minute, Hermione was hit by a stunner and seconds later so was Ron. They woke almost immediately and to make sure that all four of them had all attempted dodging, Dante had Ron cast at Daphne and watched as the Slytherin girl avoided every spell sent her way. Her raven hair flew around wildly as she weaved away from every bolt of light sent in her direction. Ron's face became flushed as he grew tired of casting spells. A grin appeared on Daphne's face before she stopped dodging altogether and fired a stunner at Ron, hitting him in the chest with it.

Dante woke up Ron and grinned at Daphne. "That's exactly how to handle a tough opponent. Ron, you're great at casting spells, but like I said, you need to predict her movements better. Daphne, I don't think you'll have many problems at all. You let Ron wear himself out before taking him down. In the future when we grow more powerful, we might be able to use a different strategy to best an opponent, but right now letting our opponents defeat themselves is our best bet."

"It's a bit like dancing, isn't it?" Daphne said breathlessly with a serene smile on her face. Ron stared at her rather dumbly with a rather goofy smile.

"I suppose it is."

Dante wanted to say more, but the doors to the Dueling Hall opened and Professor McGonagall swept in, looking flustered. "What's going on here, Mr. Monte?"

"I was teaching them how to duel, Professor."

"Ah yes, well, oh? Miss Greengrass? What are you doing here?"

"Dante was teaching me as well, Professor." She said, straightening herself out. The duel had given her a rather disheveled look.

Professor McGonagall looked between the students and smiled briefly. "Yes, well, five points to Gryffindor and Slytherin for inter-house cooperation, but I must insist that the activities for the evening stop; the four of you must head back to your houses immediately."

"Is something wrong?" Ron asked.

"There has been another attack. Now go back to your houses. We'll give you more details once everyone is accounted for."

The four students blanched but complied nonetheless. After a quick goodbye to Daphne, they made their way to Gryffindor tower. "Who was attacked?" Hermione asked, frightened.

"I wonder if anyone will be missing from common room." Dante mused. "That would be one way to find out."

"It won't be a Slytherin, you know that."

"Oh, honestly, Ronald."

"He does have a point. The Chamber of Secrets was built by the Heir of Slytherin. The message on the wall says 'Enemies of the Heir Beware,' I doubt that Slytherin's Heir would have many enemies in his own house."

"I know you boys think it's Malfoy. I'm sure it isn't, though. Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Hermione, his family has been in Slytherin for years!" Ron said exasperatedly. "It only makes sense!"

"To be fair, most people in Slytherin seem to have their whole family there."

"Good point, Dante." Hermione said with a cold look at Ron.

"I just hope we can get Malfoy to tell us. We'll know soon enough." Dante said as they reached the common room. They were met with the entire house sitting down in there.

"You three are here, where's Harry?" Ginny asked.

"He's still in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey said he still has 33 bones to regrow." Hermione said.

"Mind you, he wouldn't need to regrow bones if Lockhart hadn't removed them." Ron said quietly.

"Oh, just drop it, Ron!"

"Who else hasn't come back?" Dante asked the Gryffindors.

"Colin Creevey. He's the only Gryffindor unaccounted for now." Said Dean. "Do you think he was the one attacked?"

"Might be, I just hate not knowing what's going on."

"Maybe he's in the Hospital Wing taking pictures of Harry?" Ron asked hopefully, earning some reluctant chuckles from the group.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Fred said.

"The kid's in love with Harry." Said George

"Where were you three, anyway?" Asked Alicia.

"We were in the Dueling Hall. I was teaching these two plus Daphne Greengrass how to duel."

"You're friends with a Slytherin?" Lee asked.

"Honestly, not all of them are bad. We've really only been on friendly terms with her and a boy called Blaise Zabini, though." Hermione said derisively.

Professor McGonagall made another appearance in the common room. "May I have your attention, please?" The room went quiet immediately. "As you all know, there has been another attack. Just one hour ago, a student from this very house was found petrified. Mr. Colin Creevey is now in the Hospital Wing waiting for the same Mandrake Restorative Draught as Mrs. Norris. I must ask anyone who has any information about the attacks to come forward. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, there are school owls that can find a member of staff. Anything that you think could be helpful to apprehend the attacker. I must ask everyone to refrain from panicking. When you panic, you become reckless."

"Are there any suspects?" A voice called.

"Regardless of if we have any, I certainly wouldn't tell you. Just know that we will find the culprit and they will be expelled."

Dante slept uncomfortably that night. The words 'Enemies of the Heir Beware' kept appearing in his dreams. What did they mean? Who were the Heir's enemies? All he knew was that he felt uneasy about it. What if it was him? What if it was Hermione?

When they woke, they went to visit Harry who looked livid.

"What's wrong, mate?" Ron asked.

"Found out why we missed the train, and why I had my arm broken by a rogue Bludger."

"What? Why?" Dante asked.

"Dobby." Harry grumbled.

"Dobby?" Dante and Hermione said together.

"The house elf that intercepted all of your letters. He wanted to keep me away from school. Says it's too dangerous for me here."

"Well, if he keeps sending Bludgers your way, he'll be right." Dante scoffed.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before, he said. I don't know why this puts me in any more danger than before but what are you going to do?"

"Did you manage to convince this house elf to stop trying to kill you?"

"He left before I could. That was when they brought Colin in here."

"Ah well," Ron said. "How's the arm?"

"Prickly. Madam Pomfrey says I should be good to go in about an hour."

"I should start charging you rent, Mr. Potter." The matron said crossly. "With how much time you spend in my ward I would make a fortune."

"I certainly wish that _Professor_ Lockhart had just let me come here." Harry retorted.

The old witch bristled with anger. "I've had words with him. He knows that if he attempts to do my job for me, he'll soon be missing the bones in _his_ arm. Making me put a young man through the pain of regrowing bones..."

When the four of them walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, they saw a large notice board on the wall next to the doorway. The writing was loopy and a sickening shade of lilac.

"**Dueling Club now open to all students. Meeting tonight at 7 in the Dueling Hall. - Professor Gilderoy Lockhart - Order of Merlin: Third Class - Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League - **"

Dante groaned. "Why is _he_ doing this?"

"He's the Defense Professor, Dante." Hermione said dismissively.

That evening, the Dueling Hall was packed. It seemed like the entire school was in there, waiting to see how this meeting would turn out. "Good evening, everyone!" Said a suave voice. "Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent. Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to open this little club to the entire school in order to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works. Professor Snape has kindly consented to assist me with a small demonstration."

Snape stood up opposite Lockhart and walked stiffly over to him. Lockhart gave the room one of his dazzling smiles before continuing, "In any proper duel, you first agree to the terms and shake hands with your opponent. Professor Snape and I have agreed on nothing permanent, then we bow to each other." The two teachers raised their wands in front of their faces, swung them down to their side and gave a curt bow. They then separated and faced each other again with thirty feet between them. "One… two… three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Snape yelled and a red lightning bolt shot from his wand into Lockhart's chest. The blonde wizard flew backwards and landed with a thud.

"Do you think he's alright?" Hermione asked.

"Who cares?" Ron asked gleefully.

Lockhart stood up and brushed himself off. "An excellent idea, Professor Snape, showing them that, but I hope you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were doing and it would have been only too easy to stop you."

Snape looked ready to murder the grinning idiot and Dante couldn't blame him. "Perhaps it would be prudent to teach them how to block unfriendly spells."

"An excellent suggestion!" Lockhart looked around. "I need a volunteer. Mr. Potter, how about you? And Mr. Weasley-"

"Mr. Weasley's wand causes devastation with even the simplest spells. We'll be sending Mr. Potter home in a matchbox. Might I suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy perhaps?"

Harry and Malfoy stood up and faced each other. They shook hands and bowed before taking their paces away from each other.

"On the count of three, you will cast your charms to disarm your opponent, only to disarm." Lockhart said.

"Scared, Potter?"

"You wish."

Dante and Ron grinned at that little exchange.

"One… Two… Three!"

"Everte Statum!" Draco bellowed, sending a gold bolt of light at Harry, who was flung backwards and landed with a painful thud.

Quickly springing to his feet, Harry pointed his wand and yelled, "Rictusempra!"

After Draco was hit by the same effect, he flicked his wand and called, "Serpensortia!"

A viper burst from the tip of his wand and landed halfway between the boys. It looked around the hall menacingly before locking eyes with Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry stepped closer to the snake and made a strange hissing, spitting noise. The snake turned away from Justin to look at him before looking away again. Harry made the same noise and this time the snake moved towards Harry. Harry looked up at Justin and grinned before he noticed the shocked faces around him.

"Vipera Evanesca." Snape said softly. The snake disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"What are you playing at?" Justin yelled angrily before storming off.

The crowd of students dispersed and Ron Hermione and Dante dragged Harry to a quiet corner. "You're a Parselmouth? Why didn't you tell us?" Ron demanded.

"I'm a what?"

"It means you can speak to snakes, Harry." Hermione said.

"Of course. I once set a python on my cousin. Once. I bet loads of people here can do it."

"No, it's not a very common gift, Harry. This is bad."

"What's bad about it? If I hadn't told that snake to leave Justin alone-"

"That's what you said to it?" Ron asked.

"You were there! You heard me!"

"Harry, we heard you speaking Parseltongue." Dante explained.

"Snake language." Ron supplied.

"I spoke another language?" Harry asked dumbfounded. "But I didn't realise… How can I speak a different language without realising it?"

"I don't know, Harry, but there's a reason why Slytherin's symbol is a snake. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes, too!" Hermione said.

"Exactly! Now everyone's going to think you're his great great great grandson or something!"

"But I'm not! I can't be!"

"He lived a thousand years ago. For all we know, you could be."

Harry looked desperately between them before his gaze went up above Dante's shoulder. "Professor McGonagall?"

The others turned around to see Professor McGonagall standing in front of them with misty eyes. "Mr. Monte… Dante… I'm afraid you'll need to come with me for something rather unpleasant. And you, Miss Granger. He'll need you with him." She said, obviously trying not to sob.

"Professor? What's going on?" Dante asked, fear creeping into his voice.

"Please, you two come with me to the Headmaster's office. You'll need to be sitting when you hear this."

After a reluctant goodbye to Harry and Ron, Dante and Hermione followed McGonagall up all the way to Professor Dumbledore's office. The stone gargoyle looked at the three of them and hopped aside without a password. They entered the office and Dante noticed the same tearful expression on Professor Dumbledore's face. Fear was overwhelming him as he desperately needed to know what had these two so choked up.

"Please, sit, you two." Dumbledore coaxed gently.

They complied and Dante spoke. "Professor, please, what's going on?"

"I'm afraid I have… terrible news for you, Dante. This morning your parents…" Dumbledore coughed and wiped some tears from his eyes. "There is no gentle way for me to put this, Dante. Your parents were found this morning… Murdered."

The air in the room seemed to have vanished. This couldn't be happening, this was a mistake! The next thing he knew, he was curled up in a ball, gasping for air while Hermione held him close. He managed to gasp out a question. "My sister?"

"Your sister is safe. She's currently at your grandmother's house and will be placed under the care of your Uncle Brian and Aunt Justine. That's where you will be placed as well."

"What… What happened?"

"The muggle police are unaware of what could have caused their deaths, but the American Department of Magical Law Enforcement believes that they were killed by magical means."

"Why? Why would someone kill them? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Dante asked, looking furiously between the old Professors.

"This, I believe, is going to be the hardest part for you to swallow, Dante." McGonagall said gently. At his glare, she continued. "There was a note…" She produced a small scroll of parchment and handed it to Dante, who took it in a shaky hand.

In large, untidy strokes, the message read, "_This is what you get for not knowing your place, Mudblood._"

A choked gasp came from Dante as he read this. Tears streamed down his face as the words burned into his mind. This was too much. There had to be a mistake. His body became racked with sobs as the reality of what happened sank in. He would never see them again. They'd never see him graduate. Hermione sobbed as well, but kept holding on to him. She needed him to know that she would help him get through this.

A wave of fury swept over him and he broke away from Hermione's embrace roughly. He didn't know who he was angry at but someone needed to feel his rage. He stormed around the room, trying to walk off his anger as he'd done at home. At home… That place wasn't home anymore. That realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he fell to his knees and sobbed more.

"Dante?" Dumbledore prodded quietly. Dante looked up at the Headmaster, his eyes red with anguish. "The funeral for them is the day after tomorrow. I've already made Portkeys for you to go. I… I'm truly sorry."

"Do my aunt and uncle know that they're going to be taking in a wizard?"

"That… It might be best if you tell them."

Dante scoffed. "Exactly how many bombshells am I supposed to drop on my aunt and uncle in the next couple of days? Hi, Uncle Brian, I'm a wizard and I've nearly died a couple of times since coming to this school, which by the way isn't just some ordinary boarding school, it's a school of magic. My parents have been murdered, incidentally because of me. Yeah, I'm sure that will go over just swimmingly."

"If you like, Dante, I could accompany you to help explain to your relatives your situation." Professor McGonagall said tentatively. She then went to her normal stern tone, "And don't you dare blame yourself for this, Mr. Monte. Whoever did this to them is responsible, not you."

"I must have humiliated someone. They were getting back at me."

"None of that, Mr. Monte. It was not your fault. Miss Granger, if you would like to accompany him as well, we can take you to your parents now and see if they grant you permission."

"Of course." Hermione said dismissively. "As long as Dante wants me there, I'll be there."

Dante nodded. "Please."

The two of them made their way back to Gryffindor common room, sniffling the whole way. Hermione's parents immediately gave her permission to go with Dante, sending her off with the message that he's welcome to stay whenever he likes. When the couple made it to the common room, Ron and Harry were sitting by the fire and looked alarmed at the sight of them. "What happened?" Harry asked frantically.

A fresh wave of despair gripped Dante as he began to sob again. Hermione stroked his back soothingly and mouthed 'His parents' to the others.

"My mom and dad are gone." He choked out. "M-m-murdered."

After he'd regained control of himself, a few of the other Gryffindors that were in the common room offered their condolences before excusing themselves.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning to go to the funeral." He mumbled.

Harry gave him a hug. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I… I never knew my parents, it must be harder for you."

"I still don't know if I believe that they're gone."

"Do they know what happened?" Ron asked quietly.

"Murdered by magical means. There was a note that said '_This is what you get for not knowing your place, Mudblood._' It's my fault."

Hermione slapped him hard on his shoulder. "Stop it. It isn't your fault, Dante. You didn't do this to them."

"If I hadn't humiliated some pureblood, then they would still be alive."

"Fine then. If you want to think about it that way, do you want to do what the murderer wants?"

"No."

"Then you're going to keep doing exactly what you have been."

"Hermione, what about my sister? The rest of my family? If they got hurt as well-"

"Would your parents want you to comply with their murderer?"

Dante gave her a look of deepest loathing. "No they wouldn't.

"It's settled, then." She said simply. "We're here for you and we're not going anywhere, no matter how cross you are in the moment."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do."

After he'd calmed down, he fell asleep curled up on the couch with Hermione wrapped around him. Percy noticed the couple and made to wake them for being out of their dormitories after hours when Harry and Ron blocked him. "Get out of my way!" He hissed. "And you two need to be in bed as well."

"Percy, leave them." Harry said defiantly.

"I am a prefect. I will enforce the rules here, Mr. Potter."

Ron leaned forward and whispered in his older brother's ear. Percy's eyes widened in shock before he nodded and moved on, leaving the couple in peace.

* * *

The next morning at 11, they, along with Professor McGonagall, made their way outside the wards of the castle before using a Portkey to go to Dante's aunt and uncle's home. He had brought the journals that he'd enchanted a few weeks ago along with the ink pot. Professor McGonagall knocked on the door and a teary eyed Justine opened it. "Good morning, Mrs. Monte, well, good as can be, given the circumstances. I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall, May we come in?"

Justine nodded and pulled Dante in for a hug. "I'm so sorry, Dante." She looked up at the old witch and released Dante. "I didn't expect one of his teachers to come."

"Yes, Dante requested that I come, we have… quite a lot to discuss."

Justine just nodded again and looked down to Hermione. "And you must be the girl we've heard so much about, Hermione. I wish we could have met for something happier than this." She gave Hermione a quick hug and lead them over the the kitchen to sit down. Brian was already there and when he saw Dante, pulled him into a side hug, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Mr. and Mrs. Monte," McGonagall began. "I'm sorry to 'drop this bombshell' as your nephew put it so soon after everything, but there's a reason why he attends my school." She straightened her glasses and continued. "You see, Dante is a wizard."

Dante's aunt and uncle just looked between themselves and him, he smiled wanly and gave a little wave. "Excuse me?" Brian spluttered.

"I'm a wizard. Have been my whole life, but I've only known for a year and a half."

Brian and Justine gave their nephew a disapproving look. "Dante, this isn't really the time to be joking around."

"I assure you, this is no joke. He is still underage, so he can't use magic at home, but I, as you can plainly see, am not." She pulled out her wand and transfigured a paperweight into a gerbil.

"So my brother has been sending you away to learn magic?"

Dante nodded, pulled out his own wand and handed it over to his uncle. "I bought this in London a week before school started last year."

Professor McGonagall spoke up again. "As neither of his parents were magical, Dante is what is referred to as a 'muggleborn.' Miss Granger here is also a muggleborn, as neither of her parents are magical."

"So our nephew is a wizard." Justine said.

"And I'm dating a witch."

"Dante, don't be rude." She scolded.

"No, that's the correct term." Hermione said. "Dante is a wizard and I am a witch. Professor McGonagall is a witch, too."

"Witch and wizard are used interchangeably with woman and man in our world." McGonagall explained.

"So what is this school you go to really like?" Brian asked.

"The school is really called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The core subjects that we've been taking are Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic and Astronomy." Dante said and began explaining about the school.

After a while, his guardians were holding their heads in their hands, exasperated. "Dante, why would you lie to us about all of this? Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"Before you scold him too harshly, bear in mind that there are laws in place to keep the magical world secret from the non-magical world. Only a select few muggles are allowed to know about us. Parents of muggleborn witches and wizards, for example."

"Is Megan a witch?"

"I don't believe-" McGonagall began but Dante cut across her.

"Before you say, I'd like to test something, Professor." He said before digging through his trunk to find the enchanted ink pot. Hermione's eyes lit up at the sight of it and she grinned. He placed the pot on the table and looked expectantly at his aunt and uncle. They looked at where he placed his hand but were evidently confused.

"Did you put something invisible on the table? Or did you just pretend to put something there?" Justine asked.

"There's something there. If you can't see it, that means Hermione charmed it right. Where's Megan?"

"Here." A voice said in the doorway behind them. "What's that bottle?" She asked, gesturing to the pot.

"Is there something on the table, Megan?" Dante asked.

She walked over and picked up the ink pot. "Ink? What's special about it?"

Dante looked excitedly to his aunt and uncle. "Neither of you can see what's in her hand?" They just shook their heads, confused.

Dante looked up at his sister and grinned. "Megan, you're a witch, too."


	14. Year 2 Chapter 4

Professor McGonagall looked astonished at the bottle in Megan's hand. "Why this is incredible! Has nobody approached you about being a witch before?"

Megan just shook her head. "I didn't know magic was real until you told Dante he was a wizard last year. I don't understand, though. What's special about the ink?"

"Megan, I charmed that bottle so muggles can't see it." Hermione said.

Megan frowned. "So if I'm a witch, will I have to go to your school?"

"Well your case is rather unique, Miss Monte." Megan blinked at the way she was just addressed. "You're several years behind, through no fault of your own, I might add. If you wanted to come to Hogwarts, we could set up an accelerated course for you to help you catch up with your peers."

"But then I would have to leave. I… I'm not sure that's a good idea." Megan said, looking down at the floor.

"Megan, why wouldn't you want to?" Brian asked. "If you have that sort of gift, why wouldn't you use it?"

"I don't want to leave…" She said quietly.

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Hermione chuckled and Megan looked at her, frightened. "She's seeing someone."

Dante's eyebrows shot up and he grinned. "Someone has low enough standards for you?" Hermione slapped him for that. "Only joking, who is it?"

"Roger." She said quietly.

"If he likes you, then he won't care that you're a witch." Hermione reasoned.

"It's not just that, though!" She huffed angrily. "If I go away, it'll be months before we see each other. And, it isn't exactly easy to contact your school from here, is it?"

"I have something for that, actually." Dante said and dug through his trunk again. He pulled out the journals that he'd charmed and a new wave of despair gripped him. He schooled himself and placed them on the table. Professor McGonagall saw them and smiled. "I made these. I was going to give one to mom and dad before…" He broke off and wiped his eyes before turning to face his aunt and uncle. "I can make more, I just need more journals to enchant like this. I want you two to have this one. If you ever want to write to me, just write in here and I'll be able to read it." He handed one to his uncle and looked back at his sister. "I can do the same on my end. Megan, if you like, I can make another pair to give to you and Roger."

"When Dante showed those to me, I couldn't believe my eyes. The charm work that he'd done on them is something not taught at our school until sixth year and he managed it at the beginning of his second."

"You would make one of those for me?" Megan asked, looking hopeful.

"Sure." Dante said, shrugging. "Now that I know how to do it, it shouldn't take long for me to make another."

"Will you stay in somewhat regular contact with us, Dante?" Justine asked. "I don't know what all to be worried about at a magic school."

"I'll try to write whenever I can. I have a lot of work to do at school."

"That's all we ask. If you can make one to let us keep in touch with Megan as well, that would be great."

"I figured I might. Megan, you might not be in the same House as me so we wouldn't see much of each other."

"That brings up something very important, actually." Professor McGonagall said. "If you'll excuse me, I need to fetch something from the school. I shouldn't be longer than half an hour." She stood up, walked outside and vanished with a pop.

"What is she fetching, do you reckon?" Hermione asked.

"Dunno. Brian, Justine, there's, er, another big thing for me to surprise you with…"

"Oh, yeah?" They questioned, but Megan just looked between Dante and Hermione and grinned.

"Well, Megan being a witch was a surprise for us, too. We just had a hunch. Anyway, this… Concerns Hermione and I."

Brian's eyebrows shot up while Megan struggled to keep herself from laughing. "Concerns you, how?"

"We're… rather stuck together."

"What my brother is failing to get at is that him and Hermione know that they're going to get married." Megan cackled.

"You two are way too young-" Justine started.

"It's different than that. We did a, er, rather simple test to confirm that we're soul-bonded. I literally can't be with anyone else because it would cause him physical pain, and the same the other way round." Hermione said, cutting her off.

"Our bond also has some other effects. Some… less desirable than others." Dante began before bouncing back and forth with Hermione.

"We're telepathically connected,"

"And empathetically connected."

"So we're able to feel everything,"

"That the other does,"

"And know what the other is thinking,"

"At all times."

"On the less desirable end,"

"When one of us is hurt,"

"The other is, too."

"Except when I get hurt in a duel for some reason."

"We're not too sure about why not, but I'm not complaining."

Once again, Brian and Justine looked flabbergasted. "So you've been hurt at school?"

"Madam Pomfrey is very good at fixing me up." Dante said, holding out his arm. "I've lost count of how many Bone Breaking Curses this arm has taken, but she always fixes it up, good as new."

Hermione pointed out a scar on his arm. "Mind you, this scar was from a particularly nasty one."

"Compound fracture." Dante explained. "I had to yield after that one. Too painful to fight through."

"That one was painful to watch, let alone what I felt from the bond."

"Who does this to you?" Brian asked.

"I'm in the Dueling Club. The duels are a bit like organized fights, supervised by a teacher. Also I'm really good at it."

"If you've lost count of how many times you broke your arm, how good are you, really?"

"I'm undefeated in my year. I've only lost a couple of times to people in the year above, and a few more times in the year above that. The third and fourth years seem particularly fond of the Bone Breaking Curse."

"How do you win?"

"You win when your opponent yields, is incapacitated, or disarmed. So if I knock them out or manage to take their wand away, I win."

The family talked a little while about school until another pop out front signaled the return of Professor McGonagall. "Miss Monte, I have some things to go over with you, but first, let's get you sorted."

She pulled out the Sorting Hat and placed it on Megan's head. The hat sat there for a while, evidently having trouble. "This is a terrible mistake." The hat mused. "Why hasn't anyone told you that you're a witch, young lady? Hmm… Ravenclaw!"

Dante's aunt and uncle just stared open-mouthed at the hat while Megan looked a bit pleased. "At least I know I'm cleverer than my brother."

"Oy!" Dante said, outraged. "Keep it up and I'll have license to call you a coward."

"If we could move on," McGonagall said a little tersely. "Have you explained your soul bond?"

"They explained it to us, we're still working on believing." Brian said.

"Quite. Well then, that's everything that I came here for originally, I take it that you would consent to your niece attending my school?"

"If she wants to go. How much will her supplies be?"

"Mom and dad gave me $250 before term last year. I spent about 80% of that, most expensive thing was my wand and that was something like $60."

"That's fine. We can send you there if you want, Megan."

"Thanks. I think I will."

"Miss Monte, we'll need to have a private word to discuss your classes as well as some personal things about you."

She lead Megan into another room while Dante and Hermione entertained Brian and Justine with stories about Hogwarts, deciding that his aunt and uncle were kind enough to take him in, they deserved the truth about his time at Hogwarts. They started with the troll on Halloween, saying that was how they really became friends with Harry and Ron. At the end of it, Brian and Justine looked amazed at the pair of them. "How can you be so… okay after everything?"

"I… I just use everything as an opportunity to learn from my mistakes. I don't know how much blame I should put on Quirrell. He was being possessed, after all. And the way he died I think is more than enough of a comeuppance for him." Dante said, shuddering at the end. "Dying from pain… What a way to go." A thought crossed his mind that made him chuckle, but he got a skeptical look from Hermione.

"I doubt they'd appreciate that, Dante." She scolded.

"I've been keeping score." He said with a smirk. "Of all instances of mortal peril that the four of us had experienced since going to school."

"Oh yeah?" Justine asked, smirking. "Who's winning?"

"Harry. At the end of first year he had 9. Hermione and I were in second place with 8, and Ron was in third with 6. At the beginning of this year, Harry and Ron each got one so Hermione and I are still tied now with 8, Ron is up to 7 and Harry has 10."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys." She muttered.

"At least we can categorically say that this year is safer than last."

Megan and McGonagall came back at that time and the old professor began to explain about where to get Megan's supplies. There was a shopping center in Pittsburgh's Strip District at the corner of Smallman and 21st. Brian and Justine wouldn't be able to see it at first, but Megan and Dante would and they could bring them inside. The famous wandmaker, Rooney was here as well as a Gringotts branch for currency exchange, along with a few small shops.

The rest of the day was full of tearful condolences from Dante's family, there wasn't much anyone could say. Dante's grandmother was beside herself with grief at the loss of her son, but Dante and Megan made sure to be with her all the time. It helped with Dante's grief, anyway. Not many people from his mother's side of the family were able to come, though this didn't surprise Dante. It wasn't like that side of the family wasn't close, they were just spread further apart. Hell, one of his aunts on her side lived all the way in Texas. How she was expected to get up to Ohio in time for the funeral without magic was beyond Dante.

"Dearly beloved friends and family," The pastor began once everyone had been seated. "We're here for a terrible reason. It should never take something like death to bring us together, but we are here now. We are here to send off two people who, in the prime of their lives, were so cruelly taken from us. Salvatore Ambrogio Monte and Holly Josephine Monte née Shepherd are survived by their two children Megan Mariella Monte and Dante Alighieri Monte, along with their beloved dog, Benny." He added the last bit with a chuckle.

As the man droned on about his parents lives, Dante was getting lost in memories of them. When he woke up one morning to a dog licking his face. They didn't have a dog the night before and his dad brought one home from work. He remembered showing off his wizarding school supplies to the delighted faces of his parents, everything was coming back to him in a rush. Tears streamed down his face and he felt Hermione's comforting arm around his back. Roger had come for Megan as well. He held her with an arm around her just like what Hermione was doing for him. Seeing that made Dante confident that he would be good for his sister.

After the funeral, Megan and Roger went up to her new room so she could talk to him about going to Hogwarts. Dante hung around to listen. He didn't want to eavesdrop necessarily, but he did want to know that it was going well with them. He decided that he would step in when he heard Megan say something. "I won't go if you don't want me to, Roger."

He walked in, "Pardon me for intruding, Megan." She glared at him with a look that could kill. Ignoring this, he leaned over to Roger and muttered in his ear. "She's willing to give up being a witch for you, she likes you so much. We can find a way for you to visit, if you like." He stood up straight and looked back at his sister. "I'll be going now."

He listened at the door again and smiled at what he heard. "You should go. We'll make it work, I promise-" After hearing that, he left, still smiling.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked.

"Prodded Roger in the right direction. Told him that my sister was willing to give up being a witch for him. I think that might have smoothed things over."

"Look at you, Mr. Matchmaker."

"Enough of that. I'm excited to see Rooney's. I do have some Galleons saved up, maybe I'll get something while we're there."

"Dante?" Brian called from the kitchen. When Dante and Hermione went over, he spoke again. "I'm wondering about my daughters and the rest of the family, who all is allowed to know about you and Megan?"

"It's okay for family who he sees regularly to know. I overheard Professor McGonagall explain that to Megan." Hermione said. "She might not be happy that she told her boyfriend but, oh well."

"So grandma would be acceptable, she lives next door, and Lisa, the door next to that." Dante mused.

"So now that you're here, most of us will be allowed to know about you and your sister?"

"I think so."

"Well that simplifies things for us, although explaining it to everyone is going to be tough."

"You're telling me?" Dante quipped.

"Point taken."

Megan came back downstairs and gave Dante a light punch on the shoulder. "What did you tell him?"

"That you liked him."

"Thanks." She muttered. "He wants me to go, says he'll be fine waiting for me."

"Well, Megan," Justine said grinning. "Are you ready? We've got shopping to do for you!"

"Yeah. I can't wait to get a wand of my own."

The five of them got in the car and drove for an hour to Pittsburgh. Hermione seemed most delighted by the view, especially when they got through the Fort Pitt tunnel and saw the city. They quickly made their way to the Strip District and walked to the building that McGonagall had indicated. Dante could feel Hermione's excitement building as they walked past all of the muggle shops when they noticed an archway labelled '_Everything a Witch or Wizard needs_'

"We're here." Dante said, pointing at it. "McGonagall said that you two wouldn't be able to see it until we take you through." He took his uncle's hand while Megan took Justine's and led them through the arch, ignoring their protests about it being a solid wall.

The adults gasped when they got through. "How did we not see that?" They were standing in a large old brick warehouse, but instead of being used for storage, the space had been redesigned as a sort of mall. Small shops lined the walls and a few witches and wizards milled about between them.

"Ah, you two must be no-majs." A voice said and Dante cringed. "Shopping for muggleborns?"

"He means that you two aren't magical." Dante supplied to his relatives' stunned faces.

"Yeah," Brian said once he regained his composure. "My niece here just found out that she's a witch the other day. We just found out about magic as well."

"You? How old are you, young lady?" The old man asked.

"Nearly 15."

"Oh dear, don't worry, you're in the right place to be squared away. I take it you still need to get your money exchanged? The goblins are just over there." He said, pointing at the largest of the shops. "Have a good one." He said before walking off.

"When he says goblins…" Justine said.

"Actual goblins, yes." Dante answered. "Try not to freak out when you see them."

They exchanged $300 for Megan and collected 55 Galleons, 16 Sickles, and 20 Knuts. They proceeded to get Megan all of her supplies, confusing the tailor witch about her requested robes. "Ilvermorny students don't wear anything nearly so stuffy." She huffed.

"Good thing I'm not going to Ilvermorny, then." Megan said crossly. "I'm a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts."

Finally they made their way to Rooney's shop. The place was a bit more organized than Ollivander's, Dante noticed. When they stepped up, a middle aged man eyed Megan speculatively. He was red haired and had a receding hairline. "Do you need a replacement wand?" He asked.

"Need my first wand. I just found out that I'm a witch the other day."

"Interesting. Your parents are no-majs then?"

"They were…"

"Oh… I'm sorry, I thought these two were… Sorry." He said. "Well then, let's move on to something more cheerful. Which is your wand arm?"

"I'm right-handed."

"Good." He said simply, and just like at Ollivander's, a tape measure flew to Megan and began taking measurements. "I see…" Rooney mumbled as he walked among his shelves of wands. "Let's try this one out for you." He picked out a box and handed it to her.

She pulled out the wand and shuddered violently. "It's cold." She chattered before the wand was snatched from her hand.

"Hmm… Maybe this one?" He handed her another open wand box. She barely touched this one when it started shooting off sparks. "No… no… This one?"

The air seemed to hum merrily when she took hold of this one, it was a pale yellow with dark knots along the length of it. "This one feels… nice." She said, smiling.

"I'm sure it does. Spruce and Manticore hair, 11 1/2 inches, unyielding. I think that wand will do well in most anything. Not as well as a specialist wand, but you have a fantastic generalist one."

"Would this be a specialist wand?" Dante asked, presenting his own.

"Oh, an Ollivander wand! He taught me a lot about wandlore. You've been taking good care of this one, I see. Mahogany… 13 3/4 inches… Springy… What is the core?"

"Phoenix feather."

Rooney hummed his approval. "Lucky man, Phoenix wands are picky. Yes this one is… oh wow… this wand chose you?" Dante nodded. "This is a very fine wand. It's most at home in a duel, though I bet Ollivander told you that."

"He said that this wand wanted to fight."

"Oh you bet it does." Rooney chuckled. "I wonder, have you heard of something called 'Dual Wielding?' "

"I have, I know that I would need a second wand that works well with mine."

"And aren't you in luck! Ollivander doesn't sell thunderbird wands, and yet I do! If you wanted a second wand, it would cost a bit more than your first. 13 Galleons and I can find you one that would be perfect for you."

Dante thought about it for a while and counted the Galleons that he'd saved up: 17. "Okay, then. Set me up with a Thunderbird wand for my right hand." He said, grinning at the wandmaker.

"Here, try this one." Rooney said, producing a new box. "You should have your other wand in your hand as well, to make sure they fit together."

Dante took his own wand back from Rooney and with his other hand, reached for the offered one. The Thunderbird wand shot away from his fingers and sparked when it hit the wall. Dante chuckled. "I guess that one doesn't like me."

"Don't worry, we'll get you set up." He offered another wand and when Dante touched this one, he felt a jolt of electricity in his arm as it seized. "Hmmm… not that one either. Try this." Once again, Dante reached for the wand and it rejected him. After three other rejections, he tested the latest wand. This wand was a light brown, similar to a caramel color, and slightly longer than his Phoenix wand. When he held this one, there was another jolt of electricity in his right arm, though this felt more like a surge of power. From his left, a surge of warmth entered his hand and the two sensations met in his chest, making him feel strange, yet powerful.

"I think this is the one for me." Dante gasped out.

"I should think so." Rooney said with a grin. "Did you feel their energies mixing in you?"

Dante nodded. "So what is this one?"

"Cedar and Thunderbird tail feather. 14 inches, bendy. Make sure to use both wands regularly, that will solidify their bond with you." Rooney said before turning to Megan. "Now for you, young lady. For that wand, it'll be 10 Galleons."

Megan handed over the coins and couldn't get the grin off her face when she left the shop. "It hasn't felt real to me until now."

"I felt the same, really. Something about getting the wand just seals the deal, you know?" Dante said.

"I'm excited for you!" Hermione gushed. "I wonder what your courses will be like when you come to school."

"Oh, I've just had a thought. Hang on." Dante said as they walked by a general goods store. He walked inside and found the shopkeeper. "Excuse me, do you know if underage magic is detected here?"

The lady frowned. "It's not, but that's no reason to-"

"Thank you. How much for these?" He asked, pointing at the small notebooks."

"A sickle each."

He bought five of them and took them over to the rest of his group, who were sitting at a table, going through all of Megan's new things. "What did you get in there?" Brian asked.

"These." He said simply, tipping the notebooks out of his bag and drawing his Phoenix wand.

"Dante! You can't do magic out of school!" Hermione scolded.

"They can't detect it here. I'm making a present for Megan." He said simply and cleared his mind so he could focus on the duplication charm. He pointed his wand at one of the books and began muttering incantations. It glowed a soft gold before copying itself. He then muttered some other incantations, making the books glow blue for a moment and he handed one to Megan and the other to his aunt and uncle. "Now you can write to each other… and one more…" He repeated the process and handed both to Megan this time. "And you can give one of these to Roger."

Megan looked at the books that Dante gave her and tears welled up in her eyes. "Thanks." She said softly.

When they went home that night, Dante, Megan and Hermione were all sitting in what was now Megan's room. They caught her up on what to expect in the castle tomorrow, what floor each of the classes was on, and so on.

"There's something else you should be aware of, Megan." Dante said. "Hermione and I have dealt with it a bit, but I expect that it'll be worse for you."

"What?"

"We're muggleborn. Not everyone likes muggleborns in the wizarding world. It might be worse for you, given how far behind you are."

"So what, people are going to bully me because our parents couldn't do magic?"

"Yes. Yes, exactly. When we get to school, be… wary of Slytherins. There are a few who don't care about blood status, but a lot of them do, and they give us a hard time about it."

"Thanks for the heads up, I guess." Megan said with a frown. "Any chance you could teach me some curses?"

"We'll see how things go before we take those measures. You should just focus on your studies and catch up to people your age."

"Is there any chance that we could get Roger to visit?"

"He's a muggle, Megan. He won't be able to see the castle." Hermione said. "Although, I think he would be able to see Hogsmeade."

"And that's the village right next to the school?"

"Yes, maybe if you are allowed to go to Hogsmeade, you can arrange for Portkeys to take him there and back."

"That would be nice." Megan said, smiling. "I wish mom and dad could have found out about me. What made you think I was a witch?"

"Firstly me. A lot of muggleborns who have siblings have magical siblings. Not all the time, but since I'm a wizard, there was a good chance that you were a witch."

"Then there were a few other things that I picked up on. You seemed to know whenever something magical was happening. For example, you knew that my relationship with Dante was more significant than he was letting on."

"And you knew that my neck wasn't hurt by a curse."

"That could just be explained by you being a terrible liar."

"True, but together it made a pretty convincing case. So we decided to do a test for you so we would know for sure. I wanted to because I felt bad that you couldn't do magic."

"Well I'm glad you cared enough to check."

* * *

The next morning they Portkeyed to Hogsmeade where Professor McGonagall was waiting for them. They walked up to the castle, with Megan marveling at everything she saw. Once they reached the entrance, Professor McGonagall lead Megan away to Ravenclaw tower while Dante and Hermione went on their way to Gryffindor.

"Welcome back." Ron said when they walked through the portrait hole.

"I gathered up everything that you missed while you two were gone." Harry said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. We discovered something interesting that's kept my mind off it." Dante said.

"What?"

"My sister is a witch."

"You're kidding!" Ron exclaimed.

"How'd they miss her?"

"When McGonagall talked to my aunt and uncle about me, I tested my sister to check and she is indeed a witch. McGonagall left for a moment and came back with the Sorting Hat and it put her in Ravenclaw. She's here now. I don't know how they missed her, but if she was missed, then there must be other muggleborns who don't know that they're witches and wizards."

"Maybe loads of them." Harry said, nodding. "Ravenclaw, then? Isn't your sister older than you?"

"Yeah, she'll be 15 in a couple of weeks."

"Well, while you were gone…" Harry said uncomfortably. "Something happened that didn't really help the rumors about me."

"Oh?" Dante and Hermione said together.

"Remember Justin?"

"The bloke you looked like you were setting Draco's snake on? Yeah?" Dante asked.

"He's petrified. Along with Nearly Headless Nick."

"Damn…" Dante muttered, earning a slap on the shoulder from Hermione. "I… How do you petrify a ghost? What could possibly do that?"

"I don't know, but now in almost everyone's eyes, I'm definitely the Heir of Slytherin. It doesn't help that I was looking for Justin before he was petrified. I wanted to explain myself and now he's petrified and it just looks worse for me."

"Harry, are you going out of your way to make yourself look like a suspect?" Dante quipped.

"On the nicer end, we managed to get a hold of the ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion, Hermione." Ron said before Harry could retort.

"Oh, good! I'll be a little while to brew it, but thank you."

"And you're sure you want to make it in Myrtle's bathroom?"

"Of course! No one ever goes there."

"Harry, was there anything that you noticed when Colin and Justin were attacked?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just thinking about Halloween. You heard that voice, followed it, and there was Mrs. Norris."

"I thought I heard it in the Hospital Wing when Colin was attacked. I don't remember hearing it when Justin was, though."

"That might be important. Were there spiders by Justin? Do you know?"

"There were by Justin. I don't know about Colin. I don't even know where Colin was attacked."

"What are you thinking, Dante?" Ron asked.

"We should document everything we know so far about what's happening. Any details we can think of and that will help us figure out what's happening."

"That's a good idea, I'm sure it will help us figure this out sooner."

"In other news, I bought a second wand." Dante said, presenting his new wand. "Cedar and Thunderbird, 14 inches. I want to try dueling with both at the same time."

"Is there any particular reason why you are working to be a more powerful wizard than Dumbledore?" Ron asked cheekily.

"I'm mortal." Dante said to the raised eyebrows of the other three. "Hermione and I have nearly died 8 times since coming here. If I can learn to better defend myself, and by extension Hermione, then that can only be a good thing."

"I can see that." Harry conceded then smirked. "8 times, huh?"

"I've kept score." Dante said with a grin. "When we graduate, we're going to compare."

"You're on, Monte." Harry chuckled. "How many are Ron and I at?"

"You're at 10, Ron, you're at 7." Dante supplied. "I'm going up to bed, I've had a long couple of days and I'm knackered."

"Yeah, I expect you would be _knackered_." Ron grinned. "Bloody hell, you'll be completely British by the end of seventh year."

* * *

The next couple of weeks went by very quickly, the four of them would meet regularly in Myrtle's bathroom to brew the Polyjuice Potion and discuss how they were going to get Malfoy to tell whether he was the Heir or not. As it was Christmas, Dante wasn't able to convince his aunt and uncle to let him stay at the castle, so he left getting into Slytherin common room up to his friends. He made more notebooks and gave them to Harry, Ron and Hermione so the four of them would be able to talk when they were an ocean apart, finally. He was also curious to see how his sister was doing and he hadn't seen her since they arrived at school. He said goodbye to his friends and got on the train with his sister to London.

"How are you liking it so far?" He asked once they got in a compartment.

"I love it!" Megan squealed. "I'm so happy that I came here. Although, I have gotten some of what you warned me about. That kid in your year, Draco keeps trying to start fights with me."

"Draco, huh? We've met." Dante said amused. "Perhaps he'll pay us a visit on the train. I'm sure he's going home, too. He did last year." Just then the compartment door opened and a familiar sneering face came into view. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear!"

"Talking about me behind my back, were you?" Malfoy said angrily.

"Oh, don't start." Dante scoffed. "I dare you to tell me that you don't talk about the pair of us."

"That doesn't matter. You lot are mudbloods."

"Well it matters if you don't want to be a filthy, scummy, hypocrite. So to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit this time, Draco? Did you fancy a duel again?"

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"What a perfect opportunity for me to try this out, then." Dante said, drawing both of his wands. "Draco, you can't seriously think that you're going to beat me. How many times do I have to wipe the floor with you before you get it through your thick skull? Although perhaps I'm being insensitive. It isn't your fault that your dad shagged his cousin to have you."

Megan cackled maniacally at that while Draco's face turned red with rage. "You're joking! That can't be real!"

"Which one of your cousins are you going to be shagging, Draco? Is it Parkinson? How closely related are you?"

"That is none of your business." Draco hissed.

"Well, perhaps if you didn't butt in mine or my sister's business, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Am I going to have to humiliate you again or are you just going to-"

Draco cut across him by firing a cutting hex at Megan, who was still sitting.

Dante responded by putting up a shield charm between them. "For that, Draco, if you want to duel, we're going to forgo the nothing permanent rule this time." He said menacingly.

"You're on, Monte." Draco snapped, holding out his hand. Dante shook it and stood back as far as he could in the compartment.

"Megan, count down from three, please."

Megan complied and Draco was immediately sent flying backwards with a powerful knockback jinx. He got up and sent another cutting hex that was easily blocked. Dante slashed his Thunderbird wand, sending a cutting hex of his own at Draco. A scream and a clatter as Draco's wand hit the compartment floor.

"I win. Now leave." Dante said to Draco, who was still clutching his hand as his robes became stained with his blood. "Oh, you might need to take these with you." Dante said, picking up the two fingers that he'd severed with his hex and holding them out to him. "Get out." He said, and shoved the bleeding boy out into the hallway and slammed the door shut.

"You cut his fingers off!" Megan cried. "Why would you do that?"

"He tried to carve your face before the duel even started."

"But still! That's a bit much, isn't it?"

"No. He agreed to the risk. He can have them reattached." Dante said, shrugging. "Maybe if I start dueling him with more violent spells, he'll get the message to stop messing with me."

"How many times has he tried to fight you?"

"A few. Last time he had four friends with him. He called Hermione and I mudbloods so I washed his mouth out with soap after I dealt with his friends."

"I still don't like the idea of actually hurting him." Megan said, shivering.

"I don't like it either, but being nice doesn't work with him. How's Ravenclaw?" Dante asked, abruptly changing the subject. He didn't feel like getting into a discussion about the morality of what he'd done.

"I hardly see the other Ravenclaws. I'm mostly bent over my homework. Flitwick says that I'm about a third of the way through first year stuff right now. I just finished with Hover Charms."

"That's good to hear, we learned that around Halloween last year. We had about two months before we actually were able to cast them. You've done it in, what? Three weeks?"

"Yeah. It's all the work that the teachers keep piling on me. I hardly get a break but I do want to catch up with the fourth years, although I might not try to get that far."

"What do you mean?"

"Well catching up on four years of school is hard enough in the muggle world, isn't it? If you're really far behind there, you can work on it over the summer. But since I'm a witch, I can't do my school work over the summer."

"Good point. So what are you thinking?"

"I might just try for one year ahead of you instead of two. It'll take a load of stress off me and I might actually have some free time to go to Hogsmeade or something."

"Have you talked much with Roger?"

"A bit, he's happy with the book. Thanks for that, really. It's helped, being able to talk to him."

"That's good. Do you think we should make a grand entrance for the family when we get home?"

"Like how?"

"Tell Brian and Justine to have everyone wait where we're going to show up. They'll just watch as suddenly we're there."

"Oh, that does sound fun, but I don't want to give grandma a heart attack."

"If she's expecting it, maybe it won't be so bad."

"Let's do it."

When they got off the train, they swung by Diagon Alley to buy some Christmas presents. For Hermione, Dante bought a simple necklace of goblin silver with two small pendants with the letters D and H on them. With not much left after this gift, he bought Harry a set of arm braces for Quidditch, remembering the Bludger breaking his arm. For Ron, he got a load of Chocolate Frogs, knowing that he collected the cards.

Five minutes before their departure, Dante wrote in his journal to Brian and Justine. '_We'll show up at the front door in five minutes. If you want a way to tell everyone that Megan and I are a witch and wizard, this is a pretty good opportunity._'

'_You bet. We'll be waiting._'


	15. Year 2 Chapter 5

A few members of Dante and Megan's family were gathered on Brian and Justine's front porch. The two of them said that their niece and nephew would arrive any second. As their grandmother and a few cousins looked around skeptically, a bright flash of light appeared and when it faded, the youngest Montes stood there with smug expressions.

"Welcome back, you two." Brian said, ignoring the stunned faces around them.

"How did you? What? What did you do?" Their cousin, Leah, asked frantically.

"I'm a witch!" Megan said happily. "Dante's a wizard."

"We go to a school to learn magic." Dante said, grinning. "Although I am very disappointed that my own sister hasn't come by to see me duel." He added with a mock glare at her.

"Duel? Magic? Yinz had better explain yourselves." Their grandmother said angrily. Under her glare, the siblings wilted and began to explain about everything they knew. It took several hours to get the family to understand, especially about the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the Statute of Secrecy, but eventually they accepted that they had a witch and a wizard in the family. They conveniently left out the mortal peril in the school as well as Dante's soul bond, no need to trouble them with too much information.

Once Dante had a moment to himself, he checked his journals for messages from his friends and saw that he had one from Harry as well as Hermione.

From Hermione, '_Dante, are you alright? I'd heard that you got into another fight with Malfoy. Please write me as soon as you can._'

Dante frowned and read what Harry sent him.

'_Mate I heard you cut off Malfoy's fingers. Apparently, he was hurt so bad that they sent him back here to get them reattached. Are you okay? He didn't get you, did he? What happened?_'

He sighed heavily and began to write his response to Hermione.

'_I was sat in a compartment with Megan when Draco came and wanted to fight. Once again I tried to talk him out of it, but then he shot a cutting hex at Megan's face. I blocked it and told him that now if he wants to duel, we're going to forgo the nothing permanent rule. He agreed, we shook hands, and a quick fight had me sending a cutting hex at his hand and I severed two of his fingers. He didn't manage to hit me with anything. I'm okay._'

He then wrote to Harry. '_I cut two of his fingers off when he tried to carve my sisters face up. He got what he deserved._'

Dante felt a flash of anger that wasn't his own. A moment later, he saw that both Harry and Hermione were writing to him. Picking up Hermione's book he read what she had to say.

'_I cannot believe you! You should be better than this! Why would you stoop to his level? I don't understand how you could hurt someone like that! It's just wrong. Even if it is Malfoy._'

Dante groaned and read what Harry sent.

'_Can't say I'm too pleased about what you did to him, but if he was trying to hurt your sister, I can understand. You did help us out, actually. We didn't know that he was going home for the holiday, but now he's hurt, he's back here and we can question him with the Polyjuice._'

He smiled at that and wrote back to Hermione.

'_He was going to mutilate my sister. I've already lost my parents to people like him. I'm not going to let anything happen to the family that I have left. He agreed to the terms of the duel. He can bear the consequences. I'm not budging on this, Hermione. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was his father who attacked my family._'

He then wrote to Harry again.

'_I could lie and say that was the plan all along, but I just wanted to stop him from hurting my sister._'

He checked again to see what Hermione had to say.

'_Don't you want to be better than him? He is an awful person, why would you want to go down to his level?_'

'_I haven't sunk to his level. He attacked someone who wasn't trying to fight him. I defended. Once he wasn't in a position to fight anymore, I stopped. Can you honestly say that Draco would stop if he had me beat?_'

After writing this to Hermione, he looked once again at Harry's book.

'_Well it's a happy coincidence that he's back at Hogwarts. I really don't like that you hurt him. I doubt I would be able to bring myself to actually hurt him, but if you felt like you had to._'

'_The way I see it, he's the one who made things physical. I would have been perfectly content to let him go on his way until he attacked. He crossed that line, not me._'

A noise outside broke him out of his thoughts. It sounded like someone had just apparated there. He quickly scribbled a note in both notebooks.

'_Someone's here. I'll talk more later._'

He scrambled downstairs to see the severe faces of Professors McGonagall and Snape talking to his aunt and uncle. He cleared his throat and greeted them calmly. "Professors."

"Please go get your sister, Mr. Monte. We have something to discuss with you two." McGonagall said in a clipped tone.

After getting Megan, they sat across a table from the Professors and looked expectantly at them and Brian and Justine dismissed themselves. "How can we help you, Professor McGonagall?"

"We have heard something… very distressing about you, Mr. Monte. Miss Monte, you were a witness to the events on the train earlier today, were you not?"

Megan nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now, I want you to tell me exactly what happened. If I suspect you of lying to me to protect your brother, there will be consequences when you return to school. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Good. Now, begin."

Megan began to retell the story of them getting on the train and catching up with each other. She said that they had a compartment to themselves and she'd mentioned that Draco had been bullying her about being a muggleborn. Immediately following this, Draco entered the compartment and started arguing with Dante before he tried to send a cutting hex at her face.

"Preposterous!" Snape said with venom. "Mr. Malfoy would do no such thing."

"Severus." McGonagall said warningly.

"When Draco did that, Dante blocked it and said that if he wants to duel him then they are going to lose the nothing permanent rule." Megan said calmly. "They shook hands on it and then they dueled for a few seconds before Dante cut off his fingers with that same hex that Draco tried to use on me."

Professor McGonagall studied her for a while before turning to Dante. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Mr. Monte?"

"Draco tried to mutilate my sister. I won't let that slide. I challenged him and he accepted the risk. Once he lost, I shoved him out of our compartment and sat back down."

"Was there any reason why you chose to mutilate him in response? Or was it petty revenge for the attempt on your sister?"

"It was mostly about Megan. There is more to it, though. My entire time at Hogwarts has had him antagonizing me. I'm never the one to start the fight, he comes looking for me when he wants one. I try talking him out of it, he ignores me, curses start flying. Last time, he even tried outnumbering me. Him, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and Nott came to fight Hermione and I while we were just relaxing by the lake."

"Mr. Monte, I suggest you stop telling lies about my students-" Snape began but Dante cut him off angrily.

"Professor, I suggest you take care of your bias in favor of your Slytherins. Everyone else can see how you favor them. You let them get away with everything! How many points have you taken from Draco when he breaks rules, exactly?"

"Mind your tongue, Mr. Monte." Snape said menacingly. "You've attacked my student. I have never treated students unfairly."

"Your student who attacked her unprovoked," He gestured towards Megan. "And attacked me several times unprovoked. I won't apologize for defending myself. Ever. _Professor._ And you never treat students unfairly? I thought you were scolding us for apparently lying. Pot, meet kettle."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat to cut off Snape's retort and pulled out two small vials and set them on the table. "Mr. Monte, I want you to focus your mind on what took place on the train." She said before pulling out her wand and standing up to cross over to him.

"Okay?"

"I'm going to extract your memory of what happened. Yours, too, Miss Monte."

Dante focused on every detail he could remember of the fight. "I will confess to something before we begin that." Dante said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh? And what might that be?" She said, looking down at him through her glasses with a frown.

"I, er, I insulted him quite a lot before he started. When he wouldn't leave, I suggested that he might be, er, he might be mentally disabled for not understanding that I would beat him every time he tries to fight me." He mumbled.

"We'll take that into consideration, Mr. Monte. Your memories, please."

He focused again and McGonagall gently cupped his chin in her hand to hold his head steady and pressed the tip of her wand to Dante's temple. A moment later, she drew it away slowly and it looked like a silver hair had stuck to the tip of her wand. She put the tip to one of the vials and the hair slithered inside. She corked it and repeated the process on Megan.

"We'll be back in about an hour to discuss what we see when we view these." McGonagall said, while Snape just scowled. They got up and disapparated when they left the house.

"So what did you do that made your teachers come here?" Justine asked.

"I cut off two of a bully's fingers in a duel. They've been reattached now and are fully functional."

"You cut… Why?"

"He tried to carve up my face." Megan said before explaining the whole situation. By the time they finished, Professor McGonagall came back.

"While I can't say that I approve of how you behaved on the train, Mr. Monte, you were very clearly defending yourself and your sister. Be very wary of how you behave around Mr. Malfoy from now on. He will likely try to retaliate. For your comments to Mr. Malfoy, you will receive detention first Saturday when term resumes."

"I gave him plenty of opportunity to leave, Professor."

"I know, I still expect you to control yourself around him. Enjoy your holiday, Mr. and Miss Monte." She said before leaving once again.

"So, you've seen one of my duels, Megan. What did you think?"

"That you wiped the floor with him. There were, what? Four spells cast in the whole thing?"

"Yep. I started with knockback, he sent a cutting hex, I blocked then sent my own cutting hex. Lasted about ten seconds."

"What did you say to him to make him attack?" Leah asked before taking a sip of tea.

"I asked him which of his cousins he's going to be shagging when he's older."

Leah spat out dramatically. "You're so mean! Why would you say something like that?"

"Perhaps because Malfoy is a git? Because he keeps trying to bully Megan and I because we were born wrong? I have plenty of reason to be rude to him."

"Leah, he's cartoonishly evil." Megan said. "He seems like he has literally nothing better to do than to hassle us."

"Plus he very likely will be shagging one of his cousins." Dante pointed out. "He's a pureblood from a family of blood obsessed gits. There aren't many people he can choose from and they're all related anyway. I doubt he'd be able to get with anyone more distant than a second-cousin."

Leah and Justine looked like they might be sick at the thought of it. "They sound like they would be at home in Alabama." Justine quipped.

"Or in West Virginia." Leah added.

"Dante, you really need to teach me some curses, now. I bet he'll try something as soon as we get back."

"I can tell you how to cast a few, but I can't show you until we get back."

"That's fine. You should probably write to your girlfriend and tell her that you haven't been expelled."

"Oh, good idea." He ran upstairs and grabbed his books and brought them down so he could still talk while writing to Harry and Hermione. He wrote a quick note to both of them.

'_It was McGonagall and Snape. I'm not expelled, I just have a detention first Saturday for some of the insults I said to Malfoy._'

* * *

Come Christmas, Dante was slightly worried about Hermione; last night he felt a wave of mortification from her and still felt a slight sense of embarrassment. Deciding to write to her about it later, he focused on what he had. Dante got only a few actual gifts. For the most part, he got money to spend on his own magical gifts. One of the few presents that he got arrived by owl post from Hermione. A very hassled looking barn owl carried a small package and looked extremely relieved when Dante took it from the owl's leg. The moment it was free of the owl, the package grew in size to be about two and a half feet long and eight inches wide. Opening the letter on top first, he smiled as he read the familiar curly handwriting of his girlfriend.

'_Dante, I know how much you like learning something new, and with you knowing how to play the accordion, I thought about something else you might like. Happy Christmas!_

_Love from Hermione._'

He opened the box and laughed heartily when he saw what was inside. A mahogany brown ukulele sat in the box, along with a tuning guide for it.

"Does Hermione want to make you into the next Tiny Tim?" Justine heckled.

"I don't know who that is."

"Don't worry about it. Try it out! What does it sound like?"

Dante gingerly picked the instrument up out of the box and strummed it, grimacing at the out of tune noise it made. Quickly adjusting the strings, he tried again and couldn't help the smile that the cheerful instrument brought on. Setting it aside for later, he opened his next present from his aunt and uncle and gasped. "How did you?"

"We can see the entrance to that place in Pittsburgh now. We thought that would be a good place to go shopping for your Christmas presents." Brian said to answer his unfinished question.

Dante pulled out the robes that his aunt and uncle bought for him. They looked like ordinary Hogwarts robes, but with red and gold words embroidered on the back.

"**Dante Monte**

**Dueling Master**

**Hogwarts Class of 2013**"

"We got a set for Hermione, too." Brian explained before Dante crossed over to them and gave them a hug in thanks.

After all gifts were exchanged, Dante calculated how many Galleons he had to his name. He concluded that when he converted it all, he would have about 48 Galleons. He got his notebook and wrote his thanks to Hermione.

'_What made you think to get a ukulele?_'

'_You're quirky. I figured you would like something that was quirky like you._'

'_Well I appreciate it. I'll try to learn to play something before I get back for you._'

'_You'll have to play for me in the Hospital Wing._'

Dante read this nonplussed. '_Any particular reason?_'

'_I'm not hurt, I just don't want people to see me in my current situation._'

'_And what might that be?_'

'_You'll see when you get here. Like I said, I'm not hurt. It's just embarrassing. We interrogated Malfoy, by the way. He isn't the Heir of Slytherin and he doesn't know who is._'

'_Well that's a bust. Did you find out anything else?_'

'_He apparently said that last time the Chamber opened, 50 years ago, a muggleborn died. He hopes that this time, the pair of us die._'

'_He's such a wonderful boy. What do you mean, "apparently?"_ '

'_I didn't go to the Slytherin common room. My dose of Polyjuice didn't work._'

'_I'm going to assume that's why you're in the Hospital Wing._'

'_You could do._'

'_Well I can't wait to see you and give you your Christmas present. My aunt and uncle bought you something as well._'

'_Oh, that's awfully kind of them. I should find a way to send them something in thanks._'

The rest of the holiday break was rather quiet. A few interrogations by their cousins about what school was like were scattered throughout the following week but when they took their Portkey to London, Dante and Megan got on the train back to Hogsmeade. Without the threat of Malfoy on the train, Dante was noticeably more relaxed. They each bought a few snacks from the trolley, Dante preferring the Pumpkin Pasties while Megan was partial to the Cauldron Cakes. About an hour from Hogwarts, Dante left the compartment to go change into his school robes with scarlet and gold tie and badge, leaving his sister to change in the privacy of their compartment. She now wore her thick black robes with a blue and bronze tie and badge adorned with a raven. When they got up to the castle, they bid each other farewell and made their way to their common rooms.

Dante, Ron and Harry exchanged gifts when Dante arrived in Gryffindor, the pair of them laughing at the gift that Hermione had got him. When they finished catching up, Dante made his way to the Hospital Wing, carrying the ukulele and the presents for Hermione.

After knocking on the door to the ward, Madam Pomfrey bid him inside and led him the Hermione's bed, which was surrounded by curtains. "Hermione?"

"C… come in, Dante." Hermione said nervously. Her voice sounded a little odd, almost like there was a purr in it.

Shrugging, Dante drew aside the curtains and stared open-mouthed at her. Her face was covered in fur. Her eyes, normally brown with gold flecks were now yellow with slit pupils. And her nose! Her ears! Her tail! His girlfriend had gone and turned herself into a cat! The absurdity of it all forced him to shove his fist in his mouth to keep back the giggles. "Don't you dare laugh at me, Dante." She growled.

"Hermione… It's not just that…" He choked out, fighting desperately to maintain his composure. "What was your dad's nickname for you?"

Her yellow eyes widened in recognition. "Oh no…" She moaned and Dante lost himself completely, finally allowing himself to laugh. "I swear if you call me 'kitten,' you'll be answering to my claws."

"You have those, too, do you?"

Her response was just a hiss and he schooled himself upon seeing her yellow glare. "Well," He began, sitting down next to her bed, "I brought some things for you."

"So I can see." She said, gesturing to the gifts.

"Quite." He said, handing her a present. "This is from my aunt and uncle."

She carefully unwrapped the package, minding her claws and squealed in delight at what was inside. It was a set of robes just like Dante's but this set said,

"**Hermione Granger**

**Brightest Witch of her Age**

**Hogwarts Class of 2013**"

"Oh, this is wonderful!" She purred, actually purred with her tail swishing around.

Dante stared at the tail for a while before snapping himself out of his reverie. "This one is from me!" He said, presenting a small, velvety box to her.

She opened this one and threw her arms around when when she saw what was inside. "I should kiss you, but I don't know how that would work at the moment."

Dante chuckled and decided to kiss her furry forehead instead of her lips. "Any idea on if this is permanent?"

Her ears flattened and her tail drooped. "I don't know how much will be. Madam Pomfrey says that my face should definitely go back to normal, but she doesn't know for sure about the other changes."

Dante got up from his chair and got on the bed with her before pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry. We'll figure something out, though. I promise." Hermione was purring again and Dante couldn't help but laugh at it. "I wouldn't mind if the purring stayed. I reckon you'll be a bigger fan of sushi now, won't you?"

Hermione swatted him playfully on the chest, but couldn't keep the mirth out of her eyes. "In your dreams." She quipped before gingerly pulling the necklace out of the box. "Do you want to put it on me?" She asked, pulling together her hair to expose the back of her neck.

Dante took the fine goblin silver chain from her and unclasped it before wrapping it around her neck. After some fumbling with the clasp, he managed to get it hooked together and he leant back to examine it on her. "Beautiful." He said simply, before kissing her on the lips. "Hmm… I must say that I do prefer kissing your human lips." He mused.

"Well, boyfriend, you'll have to wait a little while before they come back." She retorted, feigning hurt with her tail once again swishing around playfully.

Dante's eyes were once again drawn to the extra appendage and couldn't stop the question. "What's it like having a tail?"

"I…" Hermione frowned. "I don't know… I actually hardly notice unless I lay on it. It's like it's always been there. It can be, er, sensitive."

"Sensitive how?"

In response, she moved it in between them. "Touch it." She said simply. Blushing, he complied, lightly brushing his fingers along her tail and her purring grew louder. "That... feels really… good." She said.

Through their connection, Dante could feel something curious from her. It made him want to feel more. Hermione was getting aroused, he realized.

'_Do you want to?_' He heard in his head. He looked up to see his girlfriend's eyes staring at him.

'_I'm not sure what I want. I… I don't know, what if we're caught?_'

'_I suppose you're right. Maybe we'll take this further when I'm not bound to this bed._'

'_There is an empty classroom at the end of the sixth floor corridor._'

Hermione gave him a devilish grin, enhanced by her rather obvious fangs. '_I look forward to it._'

Dante decided to try to cool things down so he wouldn't leave with an obvious tent in his trousers. He reached down to the bundle of things he brought with him and pulled out the ukulele that Hermione bought for him. "I learned to play something on this."

"Oh? What did you learn?"

Dante held the small instrument to his chest and checked that the plastic strings were in tune before beginning to play. He started with a C, strummed that with his index finger four times before changing to an E minor four times, then A minor eight times. He was playing _Can't Help Falling in Love_ by Elvis Presley. While he knew the words, he also was still aware that he couldn't sing, so he kept silent.

Hermione just closed her eyes and listened to her boyfriend play the cheerful instrument. She knew what song he was playing. When she was looking into buying the ukulele, she also looked into some songs that he might learn to play on it, and of course loads of Elvis songs came up. When he was done, she looked at him and smiled. "I love how romantic you are, sometimes." She purred. "Elvis. Not bad."

Dante chuckled as he set the ukulele down. "My aunt and uncle thought you wanted to turn me into the next Tiny Tim, whoever that is."

Hermione grimaced. "Never. I can't imagine you singing like that man. You're much better looking, too."

Dante grinned. "Good to hear. Now, I'm going to go back to Gryffindor before Madam Pomfrey kicks me out and never lets me visit again for disturbing the peace with this." Hermione pouted a bit at that, but let up when Dante kissed her again before gathering his things and bid her goodnight.

When he got back to Gryffindor, he found Harry bent over a table in the common room alone. "Hey, Harry."

Harry gave a start from being disturbed from his thoughts, but grinned at him. "What did you think of Hermione's condition?"

"It was… surprising, to say the least." He said, sitting down across from his friend.

"I expect so." He said cheekily. "Ron and I have been visiting her loads, but all Madam Pomfrey can do for her is wait until it wears off."

"Yeah, that's what Hermione told me, too. She also doesn't know how much is going to be permanent. I don't mind the purring, mind you."

"You're joking!" Harry laughed. "She purred?"

"She is a cat. I would be more surprised if she didn't." Dante said, shrugging. "Have you two not noticed?"

"She hasn't purred around me or Ron."

"Ah, but neither of you are her boyfriend."

"I do not need to think about what you and Hermione get up to when you're alone." Harry said, shuddering.

"Oh, relax. We've only ever snogged."

"Hermione snogged you? Are you sure that Hermione is your girlfriend?"

"Behave." Dante said, slightly annoyed.

"She just doesn't seem like the sort to be…" Harry trailed off, thinking of the word to best describe her. "Affectionate."

"She hasn't given you one of her bone crushing hugs, then?" Dante asked, before correcting himself. "No, wait, she did! Down in the potion chamber last year. When we separated from her before facing Voldequirrell."

"Oh yeah! Well, nevermind. I don't know what I was thinking of." Harry said sheepishly.

"So what have you got here?" Dante asked, gesturing to the small book that was in front of Harry.

"I found this in Myrtle's bathroom after we got back from Slytherin. Says it belongs to a bloke called Tom Marvolo Riddle, but look at the dates on the pages!" He said excitedly, opening the diary for Dante to examine.

"4th of January, 1958… That's fifty years ago." Dante said slowly.

"Exactly! The Chamber was opened fifty years ago, and here's this diary from fifty years ago!" Harry said eagerly.

"So if Tom Riddle went to school fifty years ago, then he might know something about what happened when the Chamber was opened back then." Dante said, nodding. "It's a bit odd, though. That diary doesn't look old at all. It looks just as new as the one my…" He broke off and schooled himself. "My mom gave me last Christmas." He finished thickly.

"It's not just that," Harry started, giving him a sympathetic look. "I picked this up out of the water on the floor. The water hasn't done anything to it."

"Really?" Dante asked, perking up. "No damage at all? So what has Tom written in there?"

Harry's face fell. "Nothing. At least, nothing that I can see. It might all be written in some sort of invisible ink, but I can't see anything."

Dante frowned and took the book, examining it closely. "Why bother putting powerful protective enchantments on this thing if you aren't going to write in it?" He flipped through the pages. "I'm sure there's something in here, but how do we get it out?"

Harry looked pensive for a while, then an idea clearly struck him. He reached into his bag to pull out an ink bottle and a quill before taking the diary back. He opened the book to the 4th of January again and inked his quill.

'_My name is Harry Potter._' He scribbled, before his words vanished into the page.

Dante and Harry stared at each other before more words appeared on the page. '_**Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle.**_'

"Tom can talk to us with this?" Dante asked, examining the notebook more. "This isn't like the enchantments that I've done on books. The words are disappearing."

'_**As much as I appreciate your admiration for my work here, I would prefer to only speak to Harry Potter.**_'

Dante stared at these words before they, too, faded. "Ask him if he knows anything about the Chamber of Secrets."

'_Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?_'

'_**Yes.**_'

The boys stared at each other again and grinned excitedly.

'_Can you tell me anything?_'

'_**No.**_' Their grins faded to sneers at the book before it added. '_**But I can show you. Let me take you back fifty years, Harry Potter. Only you. Please tell the other to leave.**_'

Harry looked mournfully up at Dante. "Sorry, mate."

"It's fine. You'll tell me what you find out, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Dante said awkwardly before shuffling up the stairs to his dormitory. As he climbed the stairs, he could hear pages flipping rapidly. Grumbling to himself about the book being difficult, he threw himself onto his bed and drifted off to sleep.


	16. Year 2 Chapter 6

Dante visited Hermione daily over the next two weeks. Sometimes accompanied by Harry and Ron, sometimes alone. With each visit, the fur on her face thinned, making her look gradually more human again. One thing he was delighted to find was that she was still able to purr. He didn't know why he liked hearing it so much, but it was endearing to him nonetheless. Over the course of those two weeks, her tail shrunk until it disappeared completely, and her ears migrated from the top of her head down to the sides and morphed back into human shape. Hermione confessed to missing the tail a bit, but Dante said that there would be plenty of time for them to find a way for her to get one later without covering herself in fur. Dante, of course, also brought plenty of notes for the classes she was missing along with her homework.

She was still cross with him for how he dealt with Malfoy, but he hadn't dared to cross Dante since coming back to school, so Dante was quite pleased with how that turned out. He knew why she was upset, of course; he'd gone and agreed to a duel with permanent damage on the table without telling her. She was worried about him getting hurt, along with her distaste for the scars he'd caused Malfoy. Despite her concerns, Dante was adamant that he'd done nothing wrong. He pointed out several times to Hermione that he wasn't the one to initiate violence, and that even Professors McGonagall and Snape couldn't find a reason to punish him for the duel. Harry was also displeased about the incident with Malfoy, but he wasn't as vehement in his opposition as Hermione. Ron, on the other hand, was delighted about it. Dante, despite his adamant stance that he'd done nothing wrong, wasn't happy that he had to hurt Malfoy. He just wished that Malfoy would have left him and Megan alone.

On the subject of Megan, Dante was pleased to see that she had started coming down to watch his duels as well. Granted, she would take a mobile library with her so she could use the time down there to continue to catch up with her peers, so watching his duels didn't seem like the highest priority on her mind. She'd said that she was getting along better with her fellow Ravenclaws now, she had two new best friends in there. The first was a third-year who played Ravenclaw Seeker on their Quidditch team, Cho Chang. The second was a fifth-year Prefect, Penelope Clearwater, though she was still unfamiliar with how much power the Prefects had in the school. There was another strange first-year girl that would tag along with her, but she hadn't caught her name yet. Catching up to her on her way out of the Dueling Hall, Dante made to talk to her.

"How's school been treating you now?"

"Malfoy is afraid to even look at me." Megan said, grinning. "Have you had a look at his hand? That's a nasty scar you gave him."

"He's afraid to look at me as well. Can't say that I mind the change. By the way, have you gotten in trouble for telling Roger about you?"

"Not at all. Um… I am worried, though. McGonagall told me that it was okay to tell him, but if we were to break up, they would have to Obliviate him to make him forget about me."

"Well it's awfully kind of your brother to provide you with fast communication with your boyfriend, isn't it?" He asked, smirking.

"Dick." She muttered, but she couldn't hide her amusement.

"How far are you now in school?"

"I'm doing great in Potions, even if Snape doesn't want to admit it." She turned her nose up and put on an impersonation of Snape. " 'You should have known how to brew this three years ago, Miss Monte, disappointing.' Either way he gives me good grades on my potions. I think I'm about halfway through first year."

"Is Potions your best subject or something?"

"I think so, but I like Defense, too."

"Oh God, not you, too."

"What?"

"Tell me you aren't fooled by Lockhart, too."

"Fooled by him? What do you mean?"

"Do you believe that he's done half of the things in his books?"

"Yeah?"

Dante scoffed. "He's a fraud. I'm not sure if he's fabricated everything that he's written or if something more… nefarious is going on, but he's definitely a liar."

"Why would they hire a liar?"

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors about the Defense position, no teacher has lasted longer than a year in ages."

Megan scoffed at his phrasing. "Yeah?"

"I can't imagine that there would be too many people lining up for a job that will only last for a year. Especially after the last Professor died."

"That doesn't mean that Lockhart is a fraud."

"Fine. It makes him suspicious. You haven't seen how he handled pixies at the beginning of the year. In a word: poorly."

"Whatever. I think you're just paranoid - or jealous of him."

"He is quite handsome, isn't he? Look at that man's jaw."

"Okay, now I think you're going to make your girlfriend jealous if you're checking him out."

"Don't have to swing that way to notice."

"True." Megan conceded. "Does Hermione like him, too?"

Dante scowled. "Yes."

"HA! I knew you were jealous!"

"I think I might be able to prove that he's a fraud, but I want to do some experiments with spells first."

"Prove it how?"

"I might challenge him to a duel."

Megan stopped walking and glared at him. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"You forget that there's the standard rule in dueling for no permanent harm."

"So what? Accidents happen. He might hurt you badly on accident."

"True, but if I'm right and he is a fraud, then he won't be able to do much to me at all, will he?"

This time it was Megan who scowled. "No, but he isn't a fraud. He'll probably just toy with you. He'll be to you what you are to Malfoy."

Megan started walking again. "I doubt that very much."

"We shall see." He said, before she left to go back to Ravenclaw Tower.

After they separated, Dante made his way back to the Hospital Wing to check on Hermione again. "Hey." He said when he entered the ward.

Hermione grinned at him, showing that she still had fangs. "Hey." She purred.

"How is the brightest witch of her age on this fine day?" He asked, sitting down on her bed.

"Delighted to say that I can leave in a few minutes. Madam Pomfrey just wants to do a couple more checks and she'll let me go. The only things left are the fangs and the purring, but the fangs will have to fall out on their own and who knows how long that will take."

Dante smiled and leaned in to kiss her. "I'm glad. I've missed having you in classes with me."

"And you like the purring, you freak." She quipped.

"Oh ho! Calling me a freak when you miss having a tail!" He said with a smirk.

"It was rather nice."

"We're both weird."

She flashed another fanged grin. "I can't wait to explore this empty classroom. It's been a while since we let go and just tried to see how far we were comfortable with going."

"I know what you mean. I'm just scared of getting caught."

"Well that's what this hiding place is for, isn't it? Whenever we both want to, we can go. I would say ask to borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak, but it seems a bit rude to ask to use it for a snog."

"Agreed." Dante said, nodding before Madam Pomfrey bustled over to Hermione's bedside.

"Miss Granger, I need to do your final checkup and you'll be free to go back to your dormitory. Mr. Monte, if you could give us some privacy."

Dante stepped back and the curtains around her bed were drawn closed. He figured some sort of silencing charm must be on the curtains because he couldn't hear anything that was being said. He knew something must be happening, though, because he could feel that Hermione was slightly embarrassed by whatever was going on. After a few minutes, the curtains opened and an ecstatic Hermione sprung out and threw herself around Dante. "Let's go!"

Walking hand in hand to Gryffindor, they entered the deserted common room and sat down on a couch by the hearth. Hermione stretched out luxuriously, purring quietly. "Mmmm I've missed this room."

"I expect so." He said, smiling and looking around the room. "What shall we do now that you're back?"

Hermione put her hand up to her chin and looked pensive. "I actually fancied a walk around the school. We haven't actually tried exploring this castle, we've just been going from class to class."

"I think I'm up for an adventure."

She grinned and kissed him. "Good. Let me go change into a different set of robes and shower."

When Hermione came back down from the girl's dormitories, she took Dante's hand and lead him out of the common room and they started poking around Gryffindor Tower, gradually working their way downstairs to the rest of the castle. When they got to the central wing, where all of the classes were on their various floored corridors, they were interrupted by a voice.

"Monte!" A sneer called out, making the couple whirl round.

"Draco." Dante said coolly, he looked down at Draco's right hand and saw a deep purple scar across his index and middle fingers at the first knuckle.

"I… I want a word."

"Speak, then."

"I'd rather not have eavesdroppers, Monte."

Dante was suspicious, but noticed that Draco hadn't reached for his wand. Deciding that he could easily take Draco again, he nodded. "Lead the way."

"I would appreciate it if it was just you."

"Draco, Hermione and I are soul bonded. Whatever you tell me, she'll know. Let's just go have your word and then we can move on."

"Fine." He said sulkily and lead them to a broom closet. Opening the door, he stepped inside first, making Dante feel less suspicious and more curious. It obviously wasn't a trap to lock him and Hermione in here if Draco was going in, too. When the three of them were inside, he turned to face them. "Granger, close the door, would you?"

Hermione looked skeptical but complied. "What is it that you want to talk about, Draco?"

Malfoy looked uncomfortable, shifting around, unable to look at the pair of them. He opened his mouth a couple of times, evidently trying to work up the courage to speak his mind, and finally began in a low voice. "I… I want to apologize."

The couple's eyebrows shot up at that. "I'm sorry?" They said together.

"I want to apologize for… for everything. Calling you mudbloods… your sister."

Dante's eyes narrowed. "You'll have to forgive my skepticism about your apology. You really haven't given me much reason to trust you."

"I realize that, Monte. You can either accept my apology or not. The point is that I offered one."

"Why the change of heart?"

Draco held up his hand. "This had a lot to do with it. You've always been better than me at everything except on a broom. This just made it clear to me."

Dante eyed Draco speculatively and held out his hand for him to shake. "I'll accept your apology, but I think you should also apologize to Megan for trying to mutilate her face."

Draco cringed, but nodded and shook hands with Dante. "I'm looking forward to that even less than I was for this meeting."

"Doesn't surprise me."

"Well then, I'd like to be off." Draco said, before striding to the door and walking out into the corridor, leaving Dante and Hermione alone and contemplative.

"That was…" Dante began.

"Unexpected." Hermione finished. "I didn't think he had it in him to apologize for anything."

"Nice change, though. I think me hexing him really intimidated him."

"He knew you could beat him in a duel before, though."

"But this time was different. This time I really hurt him. It must have really scared him. He has been avoiding me and Megan since we came back."

"I don't want you to think for one moment that I approve of how you handled yourself."

Dante groaned. "Hermione, please. _I don't like that I had to hurt him_. I don't like it. That doesn't change the fact that I _had_ to do it."

"I know we don't agree on this. I still think using violence to solve things is wrong."

"And the fact remains, Hermione, that he was the one who started it. _And _even after he started it, I gave him another chance to leave. I don't know how you could even consider me being on the same level as him. I did nothing wrong except for insulting him, but even then, he hasn't exactly endeared himself to us."

Hermione tutted crossly and glared at him. "You could have just shoved him out and locked the door. Called for a Prefect. Something else."

"Please, just put yourself in my position, Hermione. I just lost my parents to wizards like Malfoy, and here he comes lashing out at my sister. I saw red, and yet I was in enough control of myself to give him one more chance to back away. Think about what you would have done if your parents were killed."

Hermione's glare softened. "I'm sorry. I… I know it must have been satisfying in the moment-"

Dante had enough and stormed out of the broom closet, leaving a stunned Hermione behind. He was furious with her. How could she not understand why he did it?

'_Dante?_' Hermione's tentative voice entered his mind.

'_No. I don't want to talk about it anymore. You're obviously set in your opinion and I am mine._'

'_I'm sorry._'

Dante didn't respond to that and continued on his way back to his dorm. He just wanted to be alone. His own soulmate couldn't support him on this. How could she do this to him? What did he have to do to make her understand? He threw himself on his bed and drew the curtains. He didn't want to talk to anyone.

He'd been laying down for an hour when he heard her again '_I'm sorry._' she said cautiously and he scowled. '_I don't know what it's like to lose someone that I love. Even with our bond, I don't get to feel everything that went through your head. I'm sorry that I keep dismissing you when you say that you had to. I don't know what I would do in your position._'

Dante's scowl faded. '_What would you have done to Quirrell if he threatened me with you around?_'

'_I would have gone spare. I would have done anything to protect you._'

'_That is exactly what I have been trying to tell you. Even after everything that happened with Quirrell, I'm not happy that he's dead. I'm not happy that I would have tried to hurt him if he hadn't strangled me first. But if I had the chance, I would have done anything to stop him. Even if it meant killing him myself, especially now that I know that him hurting me hurt you as well. Malfoy wasn't going to kill Megan or I, but he was still a threat and he showed me that he was a threat by trying to hex her. I'm not happy that I hurt him in return. I'm happy that he's not going to do it again._'

'_I'm going to think on what you've said. I can't promise you that I'll come round, but I can promise that I'll think about all of it. I love you._'

'_Love you, too. You thinking about it is all I can hope for. Every time it's come up, you've just been set with "It's just wrong." I'm sorry, but I need a better reason for why it's wrong. I've given you plenty of reason why I did it, why I'm not happy that I did it, but still felt it was necessary, and you've just repeated those three words. I've tried addressing your concerns, but you haven't taken the time to consider that until now._'

Dante felt a strong wave of shame from her. '_I know. I'm going to leave you alone now so I can think about it. I'm sorry._'

'_Just think about it, then come and talk to me._'

'_Okay. I'll speak to you later._'

* * *

Dante slept fitfully that evening. He felt bad about making Hermione ashamed of herself, but she promised to think about his perspective. When he went downstairs the next morning, he saw that Hermione wasn't waiting for him in the common room like she usually did. He did see Harry and Ron playing a game of Wizards Chess at one of the common room tables, Ron obviously winning.

"Hey, mate." Ron said, not looking up.

"Hey. I see you two are up early."

"Wanted to humiliate Harry some more before starting classes."

"You really should play against other people, Ron. I mean, anyone can beat Crabbe at chess."

"Git!" Harry hissed at him.

"Bloody hell, that must sting, Harry." Ron said, chuckling as he put Harry's King in checkmate. "Looks like I win again, Crabbe."

Harry scowled and glared at Dante. "Thanks for that, I won't hear the end of that for a month at least."

"Sorry. I can't beat Ron, either, you know."

Harry's scowl turned into a grin. "That's right, you hypocrite!"

"I swear I've mentioned that the arrogant side of me is an act."

"You have." Ron said, packing away the chess set. "We're just taking the mickey."

"Ah, well. I see you're done with chess. Breakfast?"

"Don't need to ask me." Ron said, grinning.

When the three of them got down to the Great Hall, they saw Hermione already seated, nearly finished with her food and, of course, reading another book. Sitting down next to her, with Harry and Ron across, Dante started loading his plate up. Hermione didn't look up at them when they sat down, she was consumed by her book.

"Morning." Dante said, after a little while.

"Oh! Good morning, Dante, Harry, Ron." She said distractedly, still not looking up from her book.

'_I've thought a bit more about what you said, but I haven't come to any conclusions yet. Is it alright if we talk about other things while I think on it?_'

'_Of course. Hermione, I'm sorry about snapping at you. I need to control myself better._'

'_I was being rather inconsiderate of your feelings._'

'_No excuse. I don't expect you to agree with me, by the way. I just hope that when we have these sort of disagreements, we can actually listen to each other. This time it was you not listening to me. I hope you tell me when I screw up and do the same to you so I can be properly chastised._'

Hermione giggled before laughing heartily, earning uneasy looks from the people around them.

'_You are extremely pretty when you laugh. You know that, don't you?_'

'_Why, you are a flatterer, Mr. Monte. And yes, I will be sure to scold you when you do the very thing you're cross with me over._'

Dante looked back at his friends. "You know, I've had a thought."

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"I was just thinking about experimenting with spells in a duel. Using them in ways that you wouldn't expect."

"Like how?" Ron asked through a considerably smaller mouthful of food than usual.

"Well that's what the experiments would be for, figuring that out. Is it possible to stand on a shield charm? What happens if you try to knockback something that can't be knocked back?"

Harry's eyes widened. "That could be useful, depending on what happens."

"I have a feeling that if I cast Flipendo on the floor, I would be knocked into the air."

Ron looked at him like he had grown a second head. "How the bloody hell do you figure that?"

"Language, Ronald!" Hermione hissed, making Ron roll his eyes.

"I don't know exactly how magic works, I don't know what makes a spell do what it does. I only know what the teachers have said and what I've read ahead. In the muggle world, they have what they call laws of physics. I'm by no means an expert, but I know Newton's three laws of motion. An object at rest tends to stay at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion; force is mass times acceleration; and any action has an equal and opposite reaction. That third law is what I'm thinking of for this."

"Oh, I see." Hermione said. "Your knockback spell isn't powerful enough to knock the floor back, and if the floor doesn't move, you must."

"Exactly. I don't know for sure, not until I test it. I'm a little worried that I might fly into the ceiling and really hurt myself, though."

"Cover the area with cushions." Harry sniggered.

"I don't understand those laws you're talking about." Ron said.

"The important one here is the third, every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

"What does that mean?"

"That bench that you're sitting on, you are putting your weight on it. That is an action. The bench is pushing back into you with the same force. That is the equal and opposite reaction. If you put more force into the bench than it pushed into you, it would either break or sink into the floor until it could push back just as hard. The same for the bench and the floor, and the floor and the ground and so on."

"And so if the bench pushed back harder…" Ron said, nodding. "Okay, I can see what you're saying. I don't know if that is how magic works, though."

"Standing on a shield charm, though…" Hermione began. "That could be extremely useful."

"That's why I'm planning on trying it. If both of these work, I might challenge someone to a duel." He shot a meaningful look at his girlfriend. "Without permanent harm on the table."

Hermione grinned. "Who would you challenge?"

"_That_ is a surprise. I don't want to get Harry and Ron's hopes up."

The other boys looked eager at that. "I still need to duel you, Dante." Harry said.

"Very true. Whenever you want me to wipe the floor with you, Potter."

"Someone's confident for a person whose life I had to save last year. _Twice_, in fact."

"And for that, you have my eternal gratitude. I'm still better than you in a duel."

"Guess we'll see, Monte." He said with a cheeky grin.

After an uneventful day of classes and the four of them finishing their homework for the week, they made their way to the Dueling Hall for Dante and Harry's first duel together. Harry didn't mind Dante using both of his wands, only requesting that he surrender if he loses one instead of both. The pair stood before each other, bowed, then separated. A count down from three by Ron signaled the start of the duel.

"Rictusempra!" Harry bellowed, sending a bolt of light at his friend.

Dante flicked his Thunderbird wand and yelled, "Protego!" A quick flick of his Phoenix wand and a shouted, "Everte Statum!" Sent another bolt at the bespectacled boy.

Harry dodged to the right and cast a disarming spell, that was quickly dodged as well. Deciding to let Harry tire himself out, Dante stopped his offensive altogether and settled on dodging everything that was sent his way. Dozens of spells whizzed past him before Dante waved his Thunderbird wand down at the ground. "Flipendo!"

A strange jolt shot through his arm and suddenly he felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness. Looking down, he saw Harry staring at him open mouthed. While he was in the air, he swung his Phoenix wand again and cast "Stupefy!"

Harry was down and out. Landing clumsily, Dante staggered over to his friend and woke him up. "That thing works, then." He muttered.

"How high was I?"

"Dunno… maybe eight feet? Caught me by surprise."

"Brilliant! Well now that I know that works, I'll tell you guys who I want to challenge!"

"Who?"

"None other than _Professor_ Gilderoy Lockhart!"

Harry and Ron cackled while Hermione scowled. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Dante?"

"What better way to prove that he's a fraud? If I, a second year, can even do well against an '_Honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League_' then how good is he, really?"

"If he is a fraud, he won't accept your challenge, mate." Ron said. "He'd know not to show off how stupid he is."

"Have you forgotten the fine day that we all found out that our friend here is a Parseltongue?"

"He made a fool of himself." Harry said, nodding. "He'll accept it."

"What if you get hurt, Dante?"

"Well, we've already established that no permanent harm is going to be a rule between us, and you and I have discovered that you don't get hurt when I do in a duel. Unless it's with Malfoy." Dante said to Hermione before a thought struck him. "Oh! Speaking of, you two will not believe this!" He said, turning back to Harry and Ron.

"What?"

"Malfoy apologized to us."

"He what?" Ron asked, incredulous.

"Said our last duel really made some things clear to him, like the fact that I'm better than him in everything that doesn't involve a broom."

"So he just walks up to you two and says that he's sorry?"

"In private, yeah. I told him that I accept his apology, but he needs to apologize to my sister as well. Haven't heard whether he's done that or not."

"That doesn't sound like him at all." Harry muttered.

"We didn't think he had it in him to apologize for anything." Hermione said.

"Do you reckon someone was Polyjuiced as him?" Ron asked.

Dante frowned. "It's possible, I guess. Seems unlikely that someone else in the school would brew it though. Who would brew it just to turn into Malfoy and make it look like he wanted to apologize to us?"

"Good point." Ron said, nodding.

"We can think about it more later. I want to get more practice with this Flipendo trick." Dante said before stepping away from his friends so he wouldn't launch himself into them. He swung his right wand and called out, "Flipendo!" The same jolt shuddered through his arm and he swung his left wand down, "Protego!"

He was standing, or rather, he felt like he was standing. He looked down and saw that he was hovering about ten feet above the floor. His left arm was beginning to shake violently with effort. "Neat! This works too! But… I haven't thought further ahead than this." He looked down nervously. Hermione was watching him with fear wafting from her, while Harry and Ron looked excited. His left arm was getting extremely tired, so he decided to take another chance. He broke the shield charm and cast another while he fell with his right. He stopped falling about five feet above the floor now. He broke that charm as well and landed more smoothly than he did the first time.

"That's bloody brilliant!" Ron said.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to beat Lockhart."

"You will not!" Hermione chided. "He's a great wizard with so much more experience than you!"

"He _claims_ that he has so much experience, Hermione." Harry corrected.

"What will you think of the git if Dante beats him?" Ron demanded.

"That Dante got lucky."

"You wound me, Hermione! We'll just have to wait and see how it goes. I'll challenge him to the duel at the end of Defense tomorrow."

"You realize that I won't be able to pay attention to anything in that class?" Harry smirked. "I'll just be waiting to see the duel."

"Do you pay attention normally?"

* * *

Dante practiced this technique a few more times before calling it quits for the evening. The four of them made their way back to Gryffindor Tower but before they entered the common room, Hermione pulled Dante aside, telling the others to go on ahead.

"What's up?"

"How does a stroll to the sixth floor corridor sound to you?" Hermione asked with a wink.

Dante glanced at his watch, they had another hour before curfew and grinned. "I reckon I would fancy a stroll over there."

Hermione hooked her arm with Dante's and they made their way to the empty classroom that Fred and George mentioned at the beginning of the year.

"Colloportus!" Dante said with a flick of a wand. An odd squelching noise, followed by a click and the door was locked.

"Mmm, what shall we do in here?" Hermione purred, sitting on one of the desks.

"I'm having a few thoughts." Dante said, crossing over to her and capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

Hermione wrapped her arms tightly around him, her hands roaming over his back. Dante did the same and slowly lowered his hands, making his way down to her hips, earning a happy groan from Hermione. Opening his mouth slightly, he licked her lips, asking for permission to enter. She gave it eagerly as their tongues wrestled for dominance. Her hands moved between them and gripped his shoulders. After a moment, the couple broke apart for air, gasping.

"This is nice." Dante mused.

Hermione stared at him with heavy lidded eyes, panting. She took one of his hands in both of hers and pulled it up in front of her face. She never broke her gaze as she kissed his hand and lowered it to her chest. As soon as his fingers touched the soft bump on the left side of her chest, her breath hitched and her eyes fluttered. Her purring grew louder and she crashed their mouths together. Dante groaned into the kiss and squeezed gently as he began to fondle her. She gasped and broke away, leaning her forehead on his as her purring quieted.

"I think…" She panted, trying to control herself. "I think this is as far as I want to go. For now."

Dante smiled and slid his hand up away from her clothed breast and up to her chin. He tilted her head up and kissed her softly. "Okay, love."

She smiled and buried her face in the crook of his neck, humming to herself. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too." He said, inhaling the pleasant vanilla scent of her hair.

"We should probably stay here for a moment to let you…" Hermione trailed off, blushing.

"I need to deflate."

Hermione stared at him before her face crinkled, trying to suppress her laughter. "Deflate?" She squeaked.

"I very well can't walk around with it, can I?"

"Does it… hurt?"

"Not exactly."

"It's just uncomfortable… while its… _inflated_, is it?" She sniggered.

"I reckon that you need to Polyjuice yourself as me and I can get you all worked up. See how you like it."

She shuddered. "I cannot imagine snogging myself. If I turned into you, you would probably want to turn into me and I can't…" She shuddered again. "Looking at myself like that, I doubt I would be into it."

Dante grimaced. "Good point."

"I'm sorry that I don't want to go further right now-"

Dante cut her off by putting his finger to her lip. "No. I have no intention of pushing you further than you want to go. We're still both twelve! Sure you'll be thirteen in a couple of weeks, but we have plenty of time to get more physical."

She smiled and kissed him softly on the lips. "Do you think that you are _deflated_ enough to go back?"

Dante shifted around a bit. "Yeah, I think so."

She hopped down from the desk and took his hand in hers. "Good. Let's go."

* * *

At eleven the next morning, the four of them sat in a particularly dull Defense lesson. Not that Harry or Ron minded, they kept sending cheeky grins over to Dante, who fidgeted with excitement in his seat. The lecture drew to a close with Lockhart looking at the class, flashing his dazzling smile at them. "Any questions before we all go to lunch?"

Dante raised his hand.

"Mr. Monte! What can I help you with?"

Dante cleared his throat and tried to keep his obvious excitement from his voice. "Well, sir, I have always learned best through practical demonstration. I've somewhat recently bought a second wand that I've been learning to dual wield with and I figure there's no better way for me to improve my skill than to practice on someone obviously more skilled than I." Harry and Ron had stuffed their fists in their mouths to stifle their laughter while Hermione frowned. The rest of the class, however, looked at him curiously. "With all of your accomplishments, I can hardly think of a better person for the role."

Lockhart looked eagerly at him. "But of course, Mr. Monte! I'm always happy to lend a hand to someone who wants to learn more! What do you want my help with?"

Dante grinned. "Professor, would it be okay if I challenged you to a friendly duel?"


	17. Year 2 Chapter 7

The class gasped, though now Malfoy was trying not to laugh. Lockhart looked at Dante like he had just offered him a million Galleons. A wide, stupid grin appeared on his face. "You want to have a friendly duel with me?"

"Of course, sir. Who better than you?" Dante asked, struggling to maintain his composure. "Are there any rules that you want for it? I certainly don't want any permanent harm from this duel."

"Oh, yes of course, that standard rule. I can agree to that one."

"And you'll be alright with me using both of my wands?" Dante asked for confirmation.

Lockhart gave one of his sickening chuckles. "Well that is the point of you challenging me, isn't it? You wanted practice!"

"Yes, sir. Any other conditions that you would like? I have you at a bit of a disadvantage, me having two wands while you only have one."

"No other conditions are necessary, dear boy. When would you like to have this duel?"

"I could do this evening after classes."

Lockhart clapped his hands together. "Excellent! I look forward to teaching you how a real wizard duels!"

Dante stood up and walked over to him, shaking his hand. "Thank you, sir."

"Well, now. Is there anything else, class? No? You are all dismissed, then. Good day, and be sure to come and watch the show in the Dueling Hall this evening!"

The students all filed out of the classroom, only to gather around a corner, waiting for Dante. "Er, hi?" He said, looking uncomfortably between all of the faces watching him.

"So much for keeping a low profile this year, Dante." Daphne chuckled before the questions started pouring over him.

"_Why would you challenge him?_"

"_What are you thinking?_"

"_Can you really use two wands?_"

"_You're going to lose, you know that, don't you?_"

Dante raised his hands to cut off the interrogation. "I want to prove that Lockhart is a fraud. If I, a second year, can even do well against him, how great of a wizard is he, really?"

"And if he deals with you as easily as you dealt with Malfoy?" Someone asked, earning a snarl from the boy in question.

"Then I'm wrong and he isn't a fraud." Dante said, shrugging. "Come on, you lot all saw how he handled the pixies." There were some murmurs of agreement at that. "Well then, I look forward to dueling against a professor." He said before walking away to go to the Great Hall for lunch.

After they all sat down, a voice broke them out of their small talk. "Monte!"

"Draco."

"Do you actually think that you can beat a teacher? Even one like Lockhart?"

"This is less about proving my own skill than it is about proving his lack thereof." Dante said simply. "I'm not going to treat my victory over Lockhart as some big win for me, just as a loss for him, if that makes sense."

They all looked up at the Head table where Lockhart appeared to be gleefully describing Dante's challenge to him. Snape, surprisingly looked pleased with the news. Professors Sprout and Flitwick looked like they were shaking with concealed laughter, while Dumbledore frowned. At the moment that Dante happened to glance at the headmaster, he gave Dante a twinkling look over his half-moon spectacles. He murmured something in McGonagall's ear and she nodded, returning to her meal before Dumbledore stood up and strode out of the Hall.

"Well at least I can expect a show, then, Monte." Draco said.

"I look forward to giving you one."

Draco smirked and walked off to join the Slytherin table.

"Bloody hell, I thought you were joking about him apologizing to you."

"Told you." Dante muttered as Professor McGonagall swept towards them.

"Mr. Monte, may I have a word with you once you have finished your lunch?" She asked, looking more uncomfortable than Dante had ever seen the old professor.

"Certainly, Professor." He said.

"Good. Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you as well. He has asked me to take you to his office at the earliest convenience."

"Of course."

"Very well. Don't keep us waiting, Mr. Monte." She said briskly before going back to the Head table.

"Dumbledore wants to know why you challenged Lockhart, I reckon." Ron said.

"Are you going to tell him?" Harry asked.

Dante frowned. "I want to, but I don't want to… offend him, I guess. He hired Lockhart, after all."

"Which is a fantastic reason why you should give up this notion that Professor Lockhart is a fraud! Professor Dumbledore himself hired him!"

"And I hardly think there were many candidates for the position, considering that Harry killed the last one." Dante said before turning back to his messy haired friend. "Sorry, mate."

Harry shrugged it off. "I wouldn't want to take the post."

Hermione tutted crossly. "I don't believe he would hire a fraud even if he was the only candidate."

"And what? Leave the post open? It's hardly like Care of Magical Creatures, this is a core class, Hermione."

"I still think he wouldn't do that."

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? By the way, Harry, I forgot to ask. What did Riddle's diary show you?"

Harry's face darkened. "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets last time."

"Rubbish!" Hermione chided.

"That's just what I saw. Riddle was a Slytherin Prefect and he caught Hagrid with a monster in the castle. That's why Hagrid was expelled."

"There is no chance that Hagrid is the Heir of Slytherin, Harry." Dante said, shaking his head. "Now I'm getting suspicious of Riddle, if he would frame someone like Hagrid as the Heir."

"A girl had died!" Harry said exasperatedly. "What would any of us had done?"

"Made sure we had the right person before saying anything."

"We were pretty sure about Snape last year."

"Yes because, as Quirrell said, it was quite useful to have someone like Snape around. Next to him, who would suspect Quirrell? All signs pointed to Snape. And Hagrid is definitely not the Heir of Slytherin."

"Why don't we go talk to him about this? Hagrid's our friend." Hermione suggested.

"That'll be a cheerful visit." Ron scoffed. "Hello Hagrid, tell us, have you been letting anything mad and hairy into the castle?"

"Wait a second…" Dante muttered, eyes unfocused. "A girl had died last time… A muggleborn."

"Yeah, but…" Harry's eyes widened. "You don't think?"

"I think." Dante confirmed.

"Moaning Myrtle?" Ron asked.

"I think we should talk to her before we accuse Hagrid of being the Heir of Slytherin." Dante said. "Hell, you saw how upset he was when he heard that Malfoy called Hermione a mudblood."

"_Language!_" Hermione hissed, but Dante ignored her.

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Yeah, we should ask Myrtle how she died. If she'll tell us, anyway. It might be too personal to ask."

"Nick doesn't seem to mind letting everyone know how he died." Ron pointed out.

"Exactly. She might even be eager to tell someone what happened to her, if only they'd ask." Dante explained.

"We just need to find a good time to visit her bathroom. I don't expect tonight will be good with your duel later."

"Good point. I don't know how tired I'll be after beating Lockhart."

Hermione scoffed. "Someone is confident for a person that is definitely going to lose."

"I'm rather offended that my own girlfriend lacks confidence in me."

"I don't think you could beat Dumbledore in a duel, either."

"Well, we agree on that. For now, at least" He said, earning an eye roll from his bushy haired girlfriend.

After he was done eating, he stood up and made his way up to the Head table to get McGonagall's attention. "All finished, then? Very well. Let's go see the headmaster."

They walked quickly to Dumbledore's office, and upon receiving the password, "Orange Creamsicle," the gargoyle hopped aside to allow entry. McGonagall knocked on the door and they heard Dumbledore's voice beckoning them inside.

"Mr. Monte, how are you on this fine winter day?"

"Doing fine, sir. Learned some new tricks for dueling and I'm quite eager to try them out."

"Yes, Professor Lockhart has quite boastful about your challenge to him." Dumbledore nodded, frowning. "Mr. Monte, why do you have two wands?"

"Sir?"

"I promise, Mr. Monte, there is a point in me asking this. Humor me, please."

"Well… last Christmas, Hermione bought me a book about dueling. It has some brief mention about dual wielding, and it also said that if I were to do it, I would need wands whose cores would work well together. The only example the book gave was Phoenix and Thunderbird, and I just so happened to have a Phoenix wand already, just so happened to live in America where the biggest wandmaker sells Thunderbird wands, and just so happened to be reasonably skilled in a duel."

"Hmm… " Dumbledore hummed. "Allow me to rephrase the question. What is motivating you to do this?"

Dante looked up at Professor Dumbledore curiously. "I want to learn to better protect myself, sir." When Dumbledore said nothing, he continued. "Last… last year when Quirrell… he showed me that I'm mortal."

At this, Dumbledore's face darkened. "And so you wish to learn how to protect yourself and Miss Granger from the dangers of the world." He sighed gravely. "Mr. Monte, I know that I don't need to tell you that not all witches are wizards are good. There are some entire families that have but a few caring souls in them. You wish to better protect yourself and Miss Granger, but heed this warning. Noble as that goal is, it can lead one down a dark path."

Dante mulled over these words and gasped as the meaning struck him. "Are you worried that I might be the next Voldemort, Professor?"

"You could never be the next Voldemort, Mr. Monte. Voldemort loves no one, I doubt that he can. You have an extraordinary bond with Miss Granger, so this cannot happen with you. Voldemort, however is not the only dark wizard to ever live. As I've said, there are some entire families of dark wizards, and but a handful of members are able to break free and stay away from their family's dark habits. I'm sure that you have heard the phrase, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' What would be a limit for you, Mr. Monte, when it comes to defending yourself? Would you use dark magic? Or would you refuse on point of principle?"

Dante put his hand up to his chin and thought hard over Dumbledore's words. "I suppose it depends on what dark magic is. I don't like hurting people, but based on my latest incident with Malfoy, you know that I can and will if I have to. What makes a spell dark or otherwise, Professor?"

"Intent, Mr. Monte."

"So even in a dangerous situation, I couldn't use dark magic. As I said, I don't like hurting people. I told Hermione that I'm not happy that Quirrell is dead, I'm not happy that I would have tried to hurt him if he hadn't strangled me first, but I still would have tried. You keep bringing up families, is there something you're trying to tell me about that?"

"No, Mr. Monte. There are some things best left unsaid until we are ready to bear them."

Dante narrowed his eyes at the old headmaster. "I think I'm perhaps older than my age would suggest, Professor. How many other students have you known that have been in as much danger as myself and my friends?"

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Not many, Mr. Monte. I must ask you to trust me, though. As much as you've been forced to grow up, there are some things that you are not ready for. You have my word that I will tell you all that needs to be said, but not a moment before I feel you are ready."

Dante huffed crossly, but nodded, knowing this wasn't a fight he was going to win. "Okay. I'll just have to try not to let the mystery of it tear me apart. Fine."

Dumbledore seemed to relax a bit. "So what is your intention behind this duel between yourself and Professor Lockhart?"

"Well…"

"Am I correct in assuming that you do not approve of Professor Lockhart?"

"You could say that." Dante mumbled to his feet.

"And so this duel will tell you whether your suspicions about him are correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what would you do with that information?"

"Well with the duel being so public, I wouldn't need to do anything with it."

Dumbledore nodded. "May I ask what these tricks that you learned are?"

Dante grinned. "I can't tell you that! It would ruin the flair of the moment."

"Very well. I think I've taken enough of your time. I won't have you late for your next class on my account."

Dante stood and nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Good luck with your duel, Mr. Monte." He said with a wink before waving him away.

Dante was very nearly late for Charms, but he managed to slip in just before Flitwick began his roll call. The diminutive wizard seemed to be bubbling with excitement throughout the lesson, and he was in such a good mood that he was giving points to everyone for simple things. Politeness, for example. After Charms, they went to their last class of the day, Potions with the Slytherins. This, too, was an odd experience because Snape seemed to be in a good mood as well. He hardly took any points from Gryffindor, which was amazing in and of itself. He didn't hover over Dante's potion making snide remarks like usual, and he actually smiled at Dante when he handed in his Wart Removal Potion at the end of class.

Finally, with classes over, it was time to go upstairs to the Dueling Hall. Dante was simply beside himself with excitement. He was skipping down the corridors until opening the doors to the Dueling Hall. When he stepped through, he saw the Hall more full of people than ever before, even when Lockhart and Snape dueled together. Professor Flitwick was right in the middle of the room while Professor Lockhart was standing at the far end wearing a fancy waistcoat that was blue on the left side, bronze on the right. On his blue side, there was a large Ravenclaw badge, shining brilliantly.

"Ah, Mr. Monte! Excellent! I must tell you, I've been most distracted by the prospect of this duel. I could hardly focus on anything else, my boy!"

"If it helps, sir, I've felt the same way."

Lockhart flashed a brilliant smile. "Well, I'll let you stretch out and get ready."

Dante removed his outer robe and folded it neatly before setting it down, leaving him in his black slacks and a charcoal gray sweater over his shirt and tie. He stretched, flexed and popped all of his joints, even going so far as to lace his fingers together on the back of his neck and pull down with a sigh to pop the vertebrae in his upper back. Dante cleared his throat and drew his wands. Lockhart drew his and grinned before striding towards him. "Gentlemen!" Flitwick squeaked from below them. "This is a friendly duel, the only rule requested is for no curses that could cause permanent damage. Present your wands!"

Lockhart raised his wand in his right hand in front of his face, pointing it at the ceiling while Dante raised both of his. With a swish, all three wands were whipped back to their masters sides.

"Take your positions!" Flitwick squeaked. The combatants about faced and walked to their marked positions on the floor. "Three… two… one… begin!"

"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart yelled and Dante slid sideways to avoid the red jet of light. Several more disarming bolts made their way towards Dante but he made sure to avoid all of them. Giving up on disarming Dante, Lockhart switched to stunners, sending slightly paler red bolts of light at the young wizard. These ones were faster and Dante was forced to block a few of them.

When Dante sensed an opening, he flicked his Thunderbird wand and sent a stunner at his teacher. Lockhart blocked this surprisingly easily, and fired one back that Dante rolled to the left to dodge. When he got back to his feet, he sent a stinging jinx with his Phoenix wand and another with his Thunderbird, hoping Lockhart would dodge into one of them. A pained cry rang out and Lockhart was waving his left hand around, trying to get over the pain in it.

Dante's face broke into a Cheshire grin. He'd landed the first hit. He had also discovered that Lockhart exclusively used disarming and stunning spells. Deciding that the safest way for him to win was to just continue to avoid being hit, Dante slid out of the way of every red spell sent his way, ducking and rolling occasionally. The pair went on like this for several minutes, Lockhart obviously getting more and more frustrated with his inability to hit the second-year. Finally, Dante decided it was time to show off his new tricks, he just needed Lockhart to give him the right opportunity.

"Stupefy!" The Professor bellowed, sending a red bolt at him.

Instead of dodging or blocking, Dante swung his right wand down and yelled, "Flipendo!" The odd vibration in his arm followed, and he was in the air. He flicked his left wand at Lockhart. "Stupefy!" He looked down before he saw whether the spell hit Lockhart so he could cast his shield to break his fall. Once he was on the ground again, he looked up and saw the recipient of the Order of Merlin: Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five time winner of Witch Weekly's 'Most Charming Smile' award lying unconscious on the floor. He had won!

"Ennervate!" Flitwick muttered, rousing the other Professor. "The clear winner is Mr. Monte! Congratulations!" The sound in the Dueling Hall was like a bomb had exploded, the roaring of the audience was so loud.

"I won!" Dante cheered to himself before he was tackled by a mob of students. The crowd was cheering but they were pressing in on all sides. Ecstatic faces surrounded him and Dante was struggling to breathe. "Please… stop…" He said weakly, but the crowd kept pushing in on him. He was hyperventilating, he couldn't escape, '_Why are they doing this_' was his last thought before everything went black.

* * *

He woke with a start, looking around at a much smaller number of faces. He was lying in the Hospital Wing and around his bed was Harry, Ron, Hermione and Megan. "Well… That crowd was unpleasant." He grumbled.

"I never knew you were claustrophobic, Dante." Megan said.

"It's only with people." He mumbled.

"Well, you beat Lockhart, mate! That has to feel good!" Ron said.

Dante beamed. "That's right! Take that, Megan! And you, Hermione! Lockhart is a fraud!"

"I still think you got lucky, Dante." Hermione muttered.

"No, no. A second-year doesn't get lucky against a wizard who has done all the things that Lockhart claims he's done. Admit it, I was right."

Hermione glared at him. "Don't let this go to your head, Dante."

"This is a loss for him, more than it is a win for me." Dante said with a content smile. "There are still third-years that can beat me. I'm still only the best in our year."

"Well as long as you can acknowledge that…" Hermione grumbled crossly. "You warned me that he was just a pretty face."

"For the sake of your feelings, I'll keep the 'I told you so's to a minimum, Hermione."

"Since when can you jump so high, Dante? That was like ten feet you jumped in the air."

"I didn't jump. I knocked myself back into the air."

"You're insane."

"I think the word you're searching for is 'ingenious.' "

"That's what you said you were going to experiment with, wasn't it?"

"That's right. I honestly don't believe that I'm the first one to come up with that. It's so simple it could almost happen on accident."

"Who cares if you're the first or not? It was quite spectacular." Harry sniggered. "Though you gave your girlfriend quite a fright by going and fainting."

Hermione swatted him for that. "Oh honestly, what do you expect? He just won a long duel and collapsed a few seconds later. What am I to think about that?"

Dante frowned and looked down at his hands. "I couldn't breathe in that crowd."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Dante. I'm terrified of heights, remember?"

"You don't have fainting spells when you're up high." He grumbled.

"True, but Dante, that came on you so suddenly. It's no wonder you panicked." Hermione said soothingly. She took hold of one of his hands and stroked the back of it with her thumb. "You haven't told us about your meeting with Professor Dumbledore, yet. What all did he say?"

Dante sighed. "He's keeping something from me. I think he's worried about me becoming some new Dark Lord and that has something to do with family."

"You're a muggleborn, Dante, he wouldn't think you would do something like that." Hermione said, frowning.

"He kept bringing up dark magic and evil families with only a few good people in them. I asked him to clarify but he said I'm not ready to hear it."

"Keeps his secrets, doesn't he?" Ron chuckled.

He smiled wanly at the group around his bed. "When can I get out of here? How long was I out, anyway?"

"You were out for about two hours." Megan said. "And Madam Pomfrey told us that you could probably go as soon as you woke up and were checked over."

"Speaking of." Ron nodded at the Matron walking over.

"Mr. Monte, have a nice nap?"

"Oh, yes. Shame I had to get such a nice nap from a panic attack."

She chuckled, "Yes, well let me look at you." After waving her wand, she simply nodded. "Just some anxiety. You'll be fine, go ahead and leave whenever you're up to it. Busy day, defeating teachers in duels."

Dante grinned wickedly and sprung out of the bed. "Good. Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

When they arrived in Gryffindor common room, Dante was met with more claps on his back and enthusiastic admirers.

"_That duel was wicked, Dante!_"

"_Bloody brilliant!_"

"_Didn't even touch you!_"

"_Poor Colin would have probably wet himself if he saw that!_"

Hermione cleared her throat angrily to cut off their pestering. "I would have thought that given how the duel ended, you all would have known not to crowd around Dante."

"It's fine." Dante mumbled. "It just caught me by surprise a couple hours ago. Thank you, everyone for appreciating the duel. I want to get my homework done, though, so I could do with some privacy."

On the next Saturday, the four of them made their way to Myrtle's bathroom, wanting to learn how the girl had met her end. "Myrtle?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Oh? Hello, Harry." The transparent girl blushed.

"We were hoping to ask you something, we're sorry that we haven't thought to ask you before."

"What do you want?"

"To ask you how you died, Myrtle." Dante responded.

The ghost looked like she was going to cry again, making Dante regret asking. "You want to ask me how I died?" She sniffled. "Nobody has ever asked me."

"What?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Even immediately after?" Hermione asked.

"No, nobody. Nobody cared what happened to miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle." She choked out.

"That's horrible!" Harry said angrily. "I'd be furious if nobody bothered to find out what happened to me."

Myrtle smiled. "It was dreadful." She seemed to shiver with delight. "I was in here crying. Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses, and I came here to get away from her. While I was here, I heard someone else in here, and then they said something I didn't understand. A kind of made-up language. I realized it was a boy speaking so I opened the door to tell him to go away and…" Myrtle swelled with pride. "I died."

"What, just like that?" Ron asked. "Did you see anything?"

"I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes other there by that sink. I saw them, and my body sort of… tensed up and I was dead."

"Thank you for telling us, Myrtle." Harry said.

"Did you know anyone called Tom Riddle?" Dante asked.

Myrtle blushed a bit. "He was a handsome Slytherin Prefect. He and I never spoke, but I knew who he was. Do you think he had something to do with it?"

"I do." Dante confirmed. "Myrtle, I think if we figure out what killed you, we'll figure out what's petrifying people now."

"You want to solve the mystery of my death, too? Oh, thank you!" Myrtle cried, throwing her ghostly arms around him and making him shiver violently.

"Of course." He chattered. "Thank you again, Myrtle. If you ever remember anything else, please let us know."

They walked over to the sink that she'd indicated and looked around. "Harry, do you think you can speak Parseltongue on command?"

"Why?"

"She said she heard a kind of made up language. It might have been Parseltongue."

Harry's face hardened in concentration. "Am I speaking Parseltongue?"

Dante, Ron and Hermione shook their heads. "English." Ron said.

"Maybe I have to be talking _to_ a snake."

"Or think that you are." Hermione suggested, pointing at one of the taps. "Look at this!"

Looking closer at it, they saw a small decorative snake on the silver tap. "Why is that there? None of the others have anything like this." Dante mused.

"Is this the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, do you reckon?" Ron asked excitedly.

"In the girl's bathroom?" Harry said skeptically.

"Pretend this snake is real, Harry." Hermione instructed.

"Okay…" Harry said slowly and stared at the tiny metal snake. After a moment, he opened his mouth and a spitting, hissing noise came out. He looked up at the others who nodded before a heavy scraping noise directed their attention back to the sink. The sinks all separated, revealing a large hole in the floor. The one with the snake on the tap sank into the floor, making an entrance to the hole.

"Harry… This has to be the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione said slowly. "Harry, whatever you did to open it, please close it." She pleaded.

"What? We just found it!" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes, we just found it and we have no idea what's down there! Whatever is down there is obviously capable of killing people since Myrtle died because of it!"

"Okay… Let me just try to close it." Harry frowned. "Close!"

"English again." Dante supplied.

Harry scowled and tried again, this time making the hissing noise. The sinks moved back into place, concealing the hole in the floor that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

"This is good." Hermione said. "This is excellent!"

"We've found the Chamber of Secrets!" Ron cheered.

"So now we just tell a teacher where it is."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea right now, Harry." Hermione said slowly. "I don't want to think about what might happen if they go down there without knowing what is waiting for them."

"And what happens if there is another attack before we figure it out?"

"We'll just have to say something, then. I want to be able to give them as much information as we can get before anyone goes in there to deal with whatever monster it is."

"Fine. There haven't been any more attacks anyway. It'll be okay, for now." Harry said, nodding.

"In the meantime, we need to focus entirely on figuring out what is down there. Thanks to Myrtle, we know that it has big yellow eyes."

"And we know that spiders are always running away from wherever it attacks." Hermione added. "My head is about to burst at the moment, though. This is a lot to take in. Let's go do something else to clear our heads and visit this problem later."

* * *

Weeks went by without any leads and Lockhart's lessons got worse. With most of his classes losing respect for him, the man was getting flustered and easily agitated. A few students would try to hold onto the belief that Lockhart was genuine, thinking that Dante was some God amongst mortals and that was how he'd beaten him, but Dante would quickly denounce such rumors and say that he was only the best of the second-years.

Potions went from a despised subject to one that Dante was simply ambivalent towards. Snape had entirely stopped his hostility towards Dante in favor of neutrality, which suited Dante just fine. He suspected that Snape hated Lockhart almost as much as he hated Harry.

In a desperate attempt to regain some respect, Lockhart threw a Valentine's Day party at the school, hiring "cupids" to exchange cards for the students. "Thank you very much to the forty three of you who sent me cards!" He'd said during the party, but didn't appreciate the response.

"How many of those are from yourself?" Someone heckled.

Valentine's Day was quite nice for Dante and Hermione, they spent that day on the most proper date that they had ever had. The ice on the lake was enchanted to be safe to walk on, so Dante took Hermione ice skating around it, twirling her around him to her delight. Seeing Hermione's face as she laughed was the best part of the date for Dante. She was simply radiant with her wide smile. While he wasn't able to go to Hogsmeade yet, he'd given the twins some money to buy Hermione some of her favorite candy, sugar quills. They finished their date on a blanket under their willow tree by the lake, cuddled in together.

The weeks after this went by uneventfully, ever since Justin and Sir Nicholas were attacked, the Chamber of Secrets was dormant. Nothing else seemed to be going on whatsoever. On one hand, Dante was pleased that the attacks had stopped, on the other, they still hadn't figured out who or what was attacking the students. Dante went home with Megan for Easter hols to get some of his grandmother's Easter Bread, though Megan really hated the stuff. When they got back, however, things were changing.

"Mate!" Ron yelled as soon as he saw Dante. "You've got to come to the dormitory! Something's happened!"

They sprinted up the many staircases to Gryffindor, Dante's legs were quite strong from walking around the castle laden with books, and bolted up the stairs to their dormitory. They opened the door, clutching stitches in their sides and Dante gasped at what he saw. It looked like a tornado had ripped through there, sheets and clothes were strewn about haphazardly, books and rolls of parchment lay scattered on the floor. "They had to be looking for something." Dante said, examining the room.

"They found it." Harry said darkly. "Riddle's diary is gone."

Hermione made her way up to the dormitory to see what had Dante so upset. "It had to be a Gryffindor…" She said slowly. "No one else knows our password."

"I'm not so sure, Hermione." Dante grumbled.

"What?"

Dante looked around to make sure that only the three of them could hear him. "How did Harry and Ron get into Slytherin?"

Hermione paled. "If someone overheard our password…"

"Exactly. We can't even narrow it down to Gryffindor."

Harry groaned. "And, Hermione, you're up here."

"So?"

"We can't all get in the girls' dormitories. Only girls can get into the girls' dormitories. Both boys and girls can get into the boys' dormitories."

At this, Hermione and Ron both groaned as well. "Damn…" Dante muttered. "We have nothing to go on here."

"Let's just assume that it's a Gryffindor." Hermione said. "At least if we're wrong, we'll be able to cut Gryffindor out of our suspects from the rest of the school."

"Systematically narrow down our suspects." Dante nodded. "Okay. There's what? Eighty Gryffindors in total? Something like that many in the other houses, too."

"Can we talk about this at lunch? I'm starving." Ron grumbled.

"Yeah, let's go."

The four of them made their way down to the Great Hall and served themselves. "Let's go over what we know." Hermione said calmly. "We've found the Chamber, we know that whatever killed Myrtle has yellow eyes, we don't know how it killed her, we know that…" She trailed off. "Oh my God! We're so…"

Realization struck Dante as well. "Thick!" He growled. "We're so, so thick!"

Harry and Ron just looked between them.

"Harry, I think I've just figured it out! Come on, Dante, we need to check the library!"

"Right." Dante said, abandoning his food to follow her. "We'll be back."

They ran to the library and into the magical creatures section. Lucky for them, the dusty old library was mostly deserted and Madam Pince was nowhere to be seen. "It has to be a snake!" Hermione whispered hoarsely. "I can't believe we didn't think of that sooner."

"A snake that can petrify… Spiders run away from it, let's try to narrow them down with that."

"Good thinking!"

After combing through about a dozen books on magical creatures, Hermione spoke up. "I think I found it!"

Dante bent over the book she was holding open called _Most Macabre Monstrosities_. The page she was looking at described a terrible serpent called a Basilisk. "_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it._"

"Hagrid's roosters were killed early in the year…" Dante mused.

"Spiders flee before the Basilisk!" Hermione hissed. "This has to be it!"

"Murderous stare, though, Hermione. Nobody has died this year… Unless…"

"Nobody made eye contact with it. Not directly." She explained.

Dante thought about this. "Mrs. Norris saw the Basilisk's reflection in the puddle on the floor, Colin had his camera, Justin must have seen the Basilisk through Nick…"

"And Sir Nicholas is a ghost. He can't die again."

"And Myrtle only remembers seeing a pair of eyes before she died."

Hermione shivered. "Do you think they're awake? Everyone who's petrified, I mean."

"I hope not. I can't imagine being frozen still for so long."

"Okay, we have to tell the teachers now!"

"Tear that page out and we'll take it with us."

Hermione looked like he just suggested she kick a dog. "Excuse me?"

"What if we get petrified on the way to tell someone? We need to make sure that we're still able to tell them what happened even if we can't communicate with them."

Hermione grudgingly nodded. "Fine." She mumbled before looking mournfully at the book. She held up the page and grimaced as she tore it free from the book and handed it to Dante.

Dante pulled out a quill and wrote on a blank space of the page. "_Myrtle's Bathroom. CoS._" He looked up at her and handed the page back. "In case Harry and Ron get attacked as well."

"I have a mirror in my bag so we can check around corners."

"Great. Let's go, and we'll tell anyone we see along the way, just to make sure the word gets out."

Hermione grabbed his hand and dragged him to his feet. She then dug through her bag to find a small mirror and kept it ready in her hand. They ran to the entrance of the library where they happened across their first person, Penelope Clearwater.

"What are you doing running around in here?" She scolded.

"Please, there's not much time for us to explain. We've found out what the monster is that's been petrifying people!" Hermione pleaded.

"You what?"

"It's a Basilisk!" Dante said quickly. "Tell as many as you can, check around corners with a mirror. That way it'll only petrify you if you look it in the eye."

"Only?" She scoffed.

"Without the mirror, you die. Ask Moaning Myrtle." Dante said before dragging Hermione off.

They checked every corner with Hermione's mirror, making their way as quickly as they could to the staff room. There wasn't anyone else that they ran into on the way, but before they rounded the corner the second floor corridor, they heard something heavy moving. Hermione shakily raised her arm to check the corner, but she was trembling so much that they couldn't see. Dante covered her hand with both of his to hold it steady and brought the mirror up again. He looked into her eyes, and she back into his. She gave a slight nod and they both looked into the mirror.

Right around the corner, just sixty feet away, was a giant poisonous green snake, its head taller than Dante, with great big yellow eyes. A terrible chill racked through him as his body tensed. He couldn't loosen his grip on Hermione's hand, and the pair of them wobbled on their feet stiffly before toppling to the ground.


	18. Year 2 Chapter 8

A song by the Weird Sisters was blaring on the wireless and Megan was bent over a table in the Ravenclaw common room, doing some Charms homework that her diminutive professor gave her. Starting on second-year material in all of her classes, Megan was working furiously as she normally did. Megan had to admit that she was quite proud of herself, she'd managed to do an entire year's worth of school work between the middle of November and the middle of April. If she kept this up, she could easily get to where she was aiming for, a year ahead of her brother. Despite this progress, Charms was where she was furthest behind. She was working on the theory behind the Engorgement Charm so she could finally move on to practicing it. Megan was so focused on her work that she didn't notice her Head of House enter the room.

"Miss Monte?" The tiny professor squeaked, startling her. "Oh dear, I apologise for that."

"It's okay, Professor. Is there something you need?"

"Miss Monte, I'm sorry, but I need you to come with me. There's something… unpleasant that I need to show you."

Megan eyed him speculatively but nodded and packed away her things quickly. She stood up and followed him out of Ravenclaw Tower, taking care to slow her ordinary walking pace to accommodate him. "What's going on, Professor? Where are we going?"

"This isn't going to be easy to hear, Miss Monte. I think it will be best for you to see for yourself. You aren't in trouble, either, young lady. You are doing simply excellent with your schoolwork. No, this is something more personal."

Finally, Megan realized that they were nearing the Hospital Wing. "My brother got hurt in a duel, didn't he?"

Flitwick grimaced and shook his head. "Your brother wasn't harmed in a duel, Megan." He said gently. "But he is in here." They opened the doors to the ward and walked up to a bed that had curtains drawn on the side, obscuring the view. "He's behind there." He said quietly.

Megan bolted to the curtain and wrenched it aside. Laying on the bed was Dante and Hermione, holding a mirror at arms length away from them, Dante's hands clasped around one of Hermione's, and her other hand balled up at her side. They were completely still, looking like wax sculptures. "No…" She moaned weakly. "What happened?"

"There's someone else that you might need to see, Miss Monte." Professor Flitwick prodded. "Over here."

On another bed was a girl a year older than she was, blonde and wearing Ravenclaw colors and a Prefect badge. She, too, was holding out her arm, though the mirror she was evidently holding was removed from her hand and lay on the end table. "Penelope?" Megan sobbed. "What happened?" She repeated.

"To be honest, Megan…" Flitwick began uncomfortably, "We were hoping that you might have some information to help us. These three were quite close to you, we'd hoped that they might have said something to you that would give us a hint as to what happened."

"I… I haven't even spoken to Dante this week." She choked out. "I have no idea."

"I'll give you some time, then." He said quietly before leaving her in the ward. She was overcome with sobs. What should she do? She stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes and looked over the couple on the bed. Why were they holding a mirror?

Her examinations were interrupted by the doors opening again and three people coming inside. Professor McGonagall was leading Harry and Ron into the ward. "I warn you, this may come as a wee bit of a shock." She said to them before reaching the bed that Megan was sat next to.

"Hermione? Dante?" Harry and Ron gasped.

"Miss Monte… I'm terribly sorry." McGonagall began but Megan just waved her apology off.

"I just want to know what happened to them." She mumbled.

McGonagall turned back to the boys and gestured to the mirror still in Dante and Hermione's hands. "They were found near the staff room with this, and Miss Clearwater over there was found with a mirror near the library as well. Does it mean anything to you?"

"All we can say is that they were probably on their way to warn the staff about something. I can't say what though." Harry said.

"Very well. I'll leave you three here… If you know anything, _anything_, come to me and tell me. It is quite likely that if the culprit behind these attacks is not caught, then the school will be closed."

The boys gulped and nodded at her before she strode out of the Hospital Wing, leaving the students there alone. When the doors closed, Megan glared at them. "What do you know?" She bit out.

Harry held up his hands in surrender. "We don't know what happened. They just left us in the Great Hall at lunch and said that they would be back!"

"Where did they go?"

"Library." Ron supplied. "We were talking about what we knew about the Chamber of Secrets and the pair of them suddenly got angry with themselves."

"Hermione was listing off the things we knew and then Dante said that they were so thick."

"Stupid." Ron said to Megan's puzzled expression.

"After that, they ran off to the library and didn't come back."

Megan pinched the bridge of her nose to fight the oncoming headache. "So… What do you two know about the Chamber?"

"Well…" Harry began nervously.

"You need to tell me everything." Megan prompted.

"Not to be rude, Megan, but we don't really know you all that well." Harry muttered sheepishly.

Megan snarled angrily. "You see that girl over there?"

"Penelope. That's my brother's girlfriend." Ron said.

"She's my best friend here and right here I have my brother and a girl who's basically my sister-in-law. I need to know what happened to them."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks and sighed. "Okay." Harry said, defeated. "But not here. I don't want people to overhear."

"Fine."

The boys lead her to an empty classroom and sat down on top of some desks. They didn't speak right away, making Megan clear her throat angrily. Harry spoke uncomfortably. "Well, how much do you know, Megan? I don't want to annoy you with repeating things that you know already."

Megan nodded. "Okay, stop me if I say something that isn't true and correct it. I know that on Halloween, Filch's cat was found petrified near a wall that still has writing on it that says that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. A little while later, some boy named Colin was petrified near the Hospital Wing, then a few weeks later a boy named Justin and the ghost were petrified. Harry is a Parseltongue, and everyone thinks he's the Heir of Slytherin. That's what I know."

"Mrs. Norris was found near a bathroom. I don't know if the girls in your house have told you about Myrtle's bathroom."

"I know about that."

"Okay. The ghost in there is a girl who died fifty years ago when the Chamber was opened last time. She died in there and never left. When we asked her about how she died, she said that she remembered seeing big yellow eyes over by the sinks and then she just died."

"Creepy." Megan nodded. "Just like that, she was dead?"

"Her body tensed up and that was it." Harry confirmed. "We looked more closely in there and found the entrance to the Chamber in there."

"You what?" Megan hissed. "You've found the Chamber of Secrets and you haven't said anything?"

"That was Hermione's idea." Ron cut in. "She didn't want anyone to go down there before we knew what the monster was in there."

Megan sighed. "So they wouldn't go in blind. Okay, fine, makes sense. Why do they have mirrors?"

"Your guess is as good as ours." Ron shrugged. "They've never mentioned them before."

"So we can assume that they got the idea for it while they were in the library, and told the first person they saw as well."

"I wish they'd have mentioned what crossed their minds." Harry grumbled.

"Would they have worried that they might not be able to tell someone?"

"Well you said that they told the first person they saw, that was probably part of that."

Megan groaned and began pacing around the classroom. "Anything else that comes to mind? How did you find the Chamber?"

"On one of the sinks, there's a little snake. I spoke Parseltongue to it and it opened. Bit tricky to speak Parseltongue, I can't really tell if I'm speaking English or not."

Ron shivered. "Around everyone that we've seen, there were spiders."

"Spiders." Megan echoed.

"Sort of… running away from them in a line."

"Who did you see that with?"

"Mrs. Norris and Justin." Harry supplied. "I didn't see Colin and I didn't see where Dante and Hermione were attacked."

Megan paced in silence for a while, mulling over all of the information. What did it all mean? "Is there anything else you guys know?"

"Hagrid was expelled for opening the Chamber fifty years ago." Ron said, to Megan's pointed look. "I mean it. Dante said there was no chance that he could have opened it, but that's why he was expelled in his third year."

"I'm with Dante on this one." Megan said dismissively. "Hagrid's been really nice to me at least, I can't see him having a problem with muggleborns."

"Agreed." Harry nodded. "He was furious when he'd heard that Malfoy called Dante and Hermione mudbloods. He isn't the sort to be attacking people over blood status."

"Okay. We're going to talk about this more later until we figure out what that monster is and then we're going to make sure that someone goes and kills it."

The boys nodded and she left them in the classroom so she could go back to Ravenclaw common room, grumbling to herself the whole way there. "Damn it, Dante. What did you get yourself into?" When she answered the raven guarding the entrance, she found Cho sitting at the table that she was working at earlier.

"What did Flitwick want, Megan?"

Megan scowled. "My brother's been petrified. Along with his girlfriend and Penelope."

"No!" She gasped. "Why would the attacks happen now? It's been so long!"

She shrugged. "The last one was before I came here, wasn't it?"

Cho nodded. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay. I just want to know what did this to them."

Cho was about to say something when a voice rang out through the entire school. "All students will return to their common rooms immediately. Once again, all students must return to their common rooms immediately." Professor McGonagall's voice barked.

"This is about the latest attack, I expect." Cho said sadly.

A few minutes later, the rest of the Ravenclaws were crowding in the common room, waiting to hear what was so important. Professor Flitwick waddled in and the room went quiet. "Is everyone here, then?" He squeaked. "Well, everyone except… She's accounted for, anyway. We have a few things to get through and I need everyone's undivided attention! First! All students will be escorted by a teacher between their lessons. Failure to remain with your escort will be severely punished. Second! All students are to be in their houses no later than six in the evening, no exceptions. Any detentions will be arranged to accommodate this rule. Third, and this one saddens me greatly, if the culprit behind the Chamber of Secrets attacks is not apprehended soon, we will have no choice but to close the school. I beg of every one of you, if you have any information, please come forward. Send an owl if you're worried about anonymity. The latest attack has the board of governors looking into this mess."

"Who was attacked?" Someone asked.

"There were three victims today, Mr. Boot. One of our own, Miss Penelope Clearwater, and two Gryffindors, Mr. Dante Monte and Miss Hermione Granger."

The room was filled with uncomfortable murmurs as the news sank in. "Isn't that Megan's brother?" A girl asked and a few faces turned to her.

"Yeah. He's my brother." She mumbled. "His friends think he figured something out and that's why he was attacked."

"I expect everyone to treat Miss Monte with respect and not to pester her about her brother. Think how you would feel if you were her." Flitwick said, cutting off the muttering that followed Megan's statement. "That concludes my announcements. Everyone is free to do as they wish in here. It is too late to leave the common room now, so do your homework, socialize, go to sleep."

The crowd in the common room dispersed, with most people going up to their dormitories to sleep. Cho stayed with Megan, though, and the strange first-year girl sat nearby to listen. In the months since coming here, Megan finally learned that this girl's name was Luna, though the others in the school called her "Loony." Megan didn't necessarily mind Luna listening in, though she felt bad about what it was that made her ambivalent towards the blonde. Nobody in school spoke to her and nobody listened to what she had to say. Having Luna in the room was a bit like having someone's pet there; It didn't matter what she overheard.

"What do you think your brother found out?" Cho asked.

"I think he figured out what the monster was. Someone knew he found out, so they set the monster on him and everyone else who knew to stop him from spreading the word."

"You think Penelope knew, too?"

"Yeah. All three of them have their arms stretched out. Dante and Hermione are holding a mirror out and Penelope _was_ holding one."

"Mirrors?"

"I'm betting that they were checking around corners with them. My brother must have figured it out and told the first person he saw, and that person was Penelope."

"Makes sense." Cho nodded. "Do they know when he was attacked?"

"Around lunchtime. Him and his friends were eating when him and Hermione got an idea and ran to the library. Next time anyone saw them, they were petrified in the second-floor corridor."

The pair of them talked for a while, not getting anywhere with the mystery before Megan gave up and went to bed. Days had passed and they hadn't figured anything out. A week. Two weeks. Megan was beginning to tear her hair out from the stress of it. Every day, the three of them would visit the Hospital, and every day they would leave without the answers they were looking for. Megan made several trips to the library to try to figure out the monster as her brother had done, but she couldn't find any monsters that seemed to fit. In one book, there was even a page obviously torn out, but Madam Pince didn't know what might have been on it.

One thing was making life at Hogwarts bearable to Megan and that was a gift that Dante had given her. She was able to write to Roger every day and he was able to write to her. Ever since Dante ended up in the Hospital Wing, though, her focus had been away from her boyfriend and she winced in shame when she remembered how long it had been since she had written to him. Pulling the notebook from her bag, she checked it for messages. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing when each message arrived unless Roger bothered to write a time and date with it.

'_How are you doing today?_'

'_Is something wrong?_'

'_Megan, I'm getting worried._'

She inked her quill and wrote back to him.

'_Roger, I'm so sorry that I haven't been writing to you. Something happened that dragged my attention away from you. I've been roped into one of my brother's adventures and I don't know what all is going to come of it._'

After a few minutes, the journal began to write back to her.

'_Roped into one of your brother's adventures?_'

Megan sighed and began to write again. '_My brother is basically in a coma in the Hospital Wing along with Hermione, you've met her, and my friend Penelope. Dante was investigating something and someone stopped him from telling anyone what he found out._'

'_And so you're trying to figure out what he found._'

'_Yeah._'

'_Be careful, please. It's hard enough being this far apart when we can talk to each other. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, too._'

'_I'm always careful. Love you, Roger._'

'_I love you, too._'

Finally, seventeen days after her brother was petrified, Harry and Ron approached her at dinner. "Find something out?" Megan asked, once she made sure that no one was in earshot.

They shook their heads and Harry said, "We're going to go talk to Hagrid and see if he has any idea what sort of monster it could possibly be."

"I'll come, too." Megan said immediately.

"How do you plan on getting around without being seen?"

"You've obviously got a way to do that, if you're going." Megan pointed out.

"My dad's Invisibility Cloak."

"Can you fit more than one person under it?"

"Last year, all four of us just managed." Ron said.

"Good. Come to Ravenclaw tower at nine and I'll slip under the Cloak with you guys."

Harry and Ron exchanged uncomfortable looks, but complied. "We'll see you tonight, then."

That night, Megan waited impatiently in the Ravenclaw common room until her watch indicated that it was nine in the evening. Surreptitiously she made her way over to the entrance and listened for any indication that Harry and Ron were there. The noise she heard made her roll her eyes painfully.

"**Caw-caw!**" One of the boys near yelled and a whispered argument followed. Megan drew her robes tightly around herself and slipped out of the room. The moment she left, Harry and Ron materialized in front of her, startling her slightly, but she ducked under the cloak and fell into step at the rear of them.

"Which one of you made the crow noise?" She breathed.

"Me." Harry said, earning a flick to the back of the head. "Oy! I needed you to know that we were here."

They made their way, bickering under their breaths outside and down to Hagrid's hut. The light was still on inside and smoke was pouring out of the chimney. Harry knocked on the door, making Fang bark loudly into the night. The door was wrenched open and the three of them were staring at a crossbow wielded by a harassed looking Hagrid. "Who's there?" He growled.

Harry whipped the Cloak off of them. "What is that for?" He demanded.

"Oh, this? It's just for uh… Nevermind. Come in." Hagrid set about making tea for them, though the tea was just hot water. He'd forgotten to put the tea leaves in.

"Hagrid?" Ron asked tentatively. "Did you hear about Dante and Hermione?"

"Oh, I heard abou' tha', alrigh'." He grumbled. "These two dragged you in their meddlin', have they?" He asked Megan.

"Actually, I dragged myself in."

"Listen, Hagrid, we have to ask you something." Ron began, to Hagrid's scowl. "We know you were expelled for opening the Chamber last time, and we know you were innocent."

"You know a lot about monsters, and we were wondering if you had any idea what sort of monster it could possibly be in there." Harry finished.

Hagrid looked pensive and spoke slowly. "What you've got to understand abou' tha' is-" He was cut off by a knock at the door. "The Cloak! Put the Cloak on!" He hissed. Harry threw the Cloak over the three of them and they backed into a corner. Hagrid looked around at where they were and decided that they were hidden well enough before opening the door. "Professor Dumbledore, sir. Minister."

"May we come in, Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course." Hagrid said, backing away to allow the two men entry.

"Bad business, Hagrid, very bad, had to come. Another attack and three muggleborns petrified?"

"But I never! Professor, you know I never!"

"I want it known, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence."

"Albus, Hagrid's record is against him. I've got to take him."

"Take me? Where are you takin' me? Not Azkaban Prison!"

"A minimum security wing… At least until we can get this all sorted out here." The Minister stammered and Hagrid paled.

Another knock at the door and it opened without Hagrid's permission. "Already here, Fudge? Good." A silky, drawling voice said.

"What are you doing here?" Hagrid growled. "Get outta my house!"

The man stepped inside and looked around the room. "Believe me, I take no pleasure in being in your… you call this a house? No, I simply called for the Headmaster and was told I could find him here."

"And what do you want with me, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked politely, though there was a hint of ice in his voice.

"It would seem that you've rather… lost your touch. I have here an order of suspension. You'll find all twelve signatures on it. With all of these attacks, there may be no more muggleborns to come to this school…" He drawled and a slight smirk appeared on his face. "And we all know what a tragedy that would be."

"Now see here, Lucius!" Fudge looked pale, but he got a better look of the order and went quiet.

"You get rid of Dumbledore and the muggleborns won't stand a chance! You mark my words, there'll be killin's next!" Hagrid barked.

"You think so?" Lucius sneered.

"Calm yourself, Hagrid." Dumbledore said. "If the governors see fit to remove me, I will, of course, stand aside. But help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." For a moment, Megan could swear she saw him glance in their direction.

"Admirable sentiments." Lucius drawled. "Shall we, Dumbledore?" Dumbledore bowed slightly and left the hut with Lucius on his tail.

"Come now, Hagrid." Minister Fudge said uncomfortably.

Hagrid drew himself up and cleared his throat. "If, uh, anyone's lookin' fer some stuff… All they'd need to do is follow the spiders. Yep. That'd put them righ'." Fudge looked flabbergasted at him but didn't say anything. "Oh, and someone'll need to feed Fang while I'm gone." He said as they left.

Harry, Megan, and Ron stared at each other under the cloak for a few minutes until they were sure that they wouldn't be seen. They pulled the cloak off and began pacing around the hut nervously. "Dumbledore…" Megan whispered. "They got rid of him just like that."

"I can't believe they're taking Hagrid to Azkaban!" Ron said angrily.

"What did he mean by 'Follow the spiders' do you reckon?" Harry asked.

"Something barking, I expect." Ron muttered.

"We're in luck." Megan commented. "Look." The boys looked where she was pointing and saw a line of spiders scuttling towards the forest. "Grab that lantern. We're following them." She said resolutely, ignoring Ron's protests.

After a quick last-minute check to ensure that they wouldn't be seen, they left Hagrid's hut and followed the tiny trail of spiders into the forest, occasionally tripping over roots along the way. The further they went, the closer the trees got and the less sky they were able to see above. After about an hour of walking through increasingly tough forest, they heard a noise and stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?" A gravelly voice called out. "Hagrid? Is it you?"

"W-w-we're friends of Hagrid's" Harry stammered.

"Hagrid has never sent people into the forest before." The voice said and the noises got louder. A moment later, a giant spider, not much smaller than Hagrid's hut stood before them.

"Are you Aragog?" Harry asked.

"Yes, now tell me why you are here instead of Hagrid."

"He's in trouble. They think he's been opening the Chamber of Secrets… Like they did before."

"That's a lie." Aragog growled. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"Then you're not the monster from the Chamber."

"No, the creature in the Chamber was born in the castle. I was brought to it in the pocket of a traveller. Hagrid bought me from the man and raised me. I never saw any part of the castle apart from the box that Hagrid kept me in. The girl who died was killed in a bathroom."

"Do you know what the creature is?"

Aragog snarled. "We do not speak of it! It is a creature so foul that we spiders fear above all others."

"Harry?" Ron moaned.

"What?" Harry growled at him.

That seemed to be the only word that Ron could get out, because all he could do next was point up and moan. "Aaaaaahhh..."

Megan looked up and saw several large spiders descending on threads towards them. Each spider about the size of a tiger. "Um… Thank you." Harry said nervously to Aragog. "We'll just go."

"Go?" Aragog asked to Ron's vigorous nodding. "I think not. My children do not attack Hagrid on my orders… But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so… willingly into our midst… Goodbye friend of Hagrid."

"Run!" Harry bellowed.

They dashed back the way they came, Harry casting spells at oncoming spiders to stop them. Megan cast the few spells she knew to try to help but they weren't terribly effective against the eight-legged onslaught. "Harry?" She yelled between spells.

"Yeah?"

"Know any good spells against spiders?"

"One. But not against this many."

"Better than nothing?" Ron asked.

"Arania Exumai!" Harry yelled, followed by a bright blue-white flash moving out from his wand. Megan and Ron quickly copied him and battered the acromantulas away enough to forge a path. The spiders ahead of them curiously seemed to be knocked aside by something. A new light started to shine through the many legs of their assailants and a blue Ford Anglia ploughed through them towards the wizards. It swerved in front of them and three doors sprang open on it. "Get in!" Harry said quickly.

The three of them leapt into the car and the doors slammed shut behind them. They looked up and saw through the windshield that loads of acromantulas were gathering on the ridge nearby. "Start the car!" Harry ordered Ron.

He turned the key and stepped on the gas, whipped the car around back towards the castle and floored it. After messing with the gears, the car began to slowly rise above the forest floor, flying between the massive tree trunks all around them. They flew quickly to the edge of the forest before the car decided that it had enough flying and dove back to the ground, landing hard. Ron seemed incapable of controlling the metal monster and it just drove how it wanted to. A few minutes later, it pulled out onto the castle grounds and skidded around to a halt on the grass.

Feeling slightly faint, Megan opened the door and got out before sinking to her knees on the lawn. "Follow the spiders." Ron growled. "Follow the bloody spiders! If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!" Ron stared at the car that just took off back into the forest. "I mean, what have we found out?"

"We know for sure that Hagrid was innocent." Harry said, earning a scoff from Ron.

"The spiders are afraid of whatever the monster is." Megan mumbled.

"Which is why we see them fleeing from wherever someone was petrified." Harry nodded.

"Harry?"

"What?"

"Is this what your… adventures are always like?"

"I guess so."

Megan shivered, though not from cold. "You said before… The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is marked with a snake…"

"Yeah?"

"Why wouldn't Slytherin have a snake monster as his tool to purge the muggleborns?"

"I…" Harry began, ignoring Ron's ranting about "Bloody spiders." He slapped his forehead angrily. "Thick!" He growled. "Thick! Thick! Thick!" He emphasized each word with another slap.

"What?" Megan and Ron asked together.

"It's bloody obvious that Slytherin would use a snake! That's what got Dante and Hermione so cross with themselves!"

"So they ran to the library to find a snake that could petrify people…" Megan said. "They narrowed it down to snakes that have some relationship with spiders… and found something."

"Okay… We're still not that much further. You haven't found anything in the library, have you?"

"No… There was a book that seemed like it might have something that we're looking for but if it was in there, it isn't anymore."

"What?" Ron asked, confused.

"There's a page missing in the book and Madam Pince doesn't know what might have been on it."

Harry and Ron glanced at each other open-mouthed. "Megan… what if they took that page?"

"Why would they… Oh my God!"

"We've got to check the Hospital Wing!" Harry shouted, to the annoyed shushing of the other two.

"Tomorrow." Megan insisted. "We're out too late as it is. I doubt Madam Pomfrey will take kindly to us barging in and searching them. Look in Dante's things for one of the notebooks that he charmed and give it to me at breakfast. That way we can make sure we all know what's happening."

"Right. Tomorrow." Ron said before they got under the Cloak and made their way back to the castle. They stopped at Ravenclaw first, with Megan answering the raven's question while still invisible, and the boys left her to go back to Gryffindor.

The next morning, Megan would have been grateful for not having actual classes, if not for the boys. Harry and Ron still had Transfiguration in the morning followed by Defense. As requested, Harry brought her a notebook that Dante had been writing in to him. Throughout breakfast, Megan found herself flipping through the notes that the two boys had passed to each other, finding the ones about his last fight with Malfoy the most interesting. Dante never struck her as an overprotective brother. He didn't say anything to discourage other boys from dating her, even going so far as to push Roger into staying with her. Yet here he was, writing to Harry about how Malfoy bullying her had upset him.

She closed the book and continued to eat. After breakfast, she went back to her tower and tried desperately to focus on her homework, but the excitement of yesterday was still gnawing at her mind. The prospect that maybe Dante had the answers they were looking for all along was a nagging presence in her mind.

"Miss Monte? Are you in there?"

Megan shook herself and looked around for the disturbance. Professor Flitwick had climbed into the chair opposite her at her table. "Sorry, Professor. I was being a space cadet." Flitwick raised an eyebrow at the expression and Megan slapped her forehead gently. "Muggle phrase. I was off in my own little world."

"Quite, Miss Monte." Flitwick chuckled. "I was just wondering how you were doing with everything. I know that you've had it rough these past couple of months and with… all this… it's just yet another thing to add to your pile of stress."

"I've been handling it, I think. I just try to keep busy so I don't dwell on it."

"And were you? Just now?"

Megan frowned. "Yes. I… It is hard to keep my mind off it."

"It's okay to be affected by these things, you know. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'll always be willing to listen."

Megan smiled genuinely. "Thanks, Professor."

The half-goblin hopped down from the chair and bid her goodbye, leaving her once again in her head. After far too long, Megan saw a hastily scribbled note appear in Harry's book.

'_Gave Lockhart the slip. We're going to the Hospital Wing._'

Quickly packing away her things, she bolted to the door and out of the common room. Down the tower to the main wing, before getting to the Hospital Wing where she saw Harry and Ron talking to Professor McGonagall, who had tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh, Miss Monte. I…" McGonagall sighed. "I should have known you'd visit more as well."

"I'm sorry, Professor-"

"No. It's perfectly alright. I'll leave you three to it."

The three of them thanked the professor and made their way into the ward. They walked over to Dante and Hermione's bed and looked over them. "Do you… think they'd have something in their pocket?" Ron asked.

Megan looked around to make sure they weren't being watched before stuffing her hands into Dante's robe pockets. Nothing. She moved on to Hermione and repeated the process. Nothing. "Come on… Where would you put something like this?" She glanced down at Hermione's free hand and saw what looked like a scrap of old paper. Her heart jumped into her chest. "Harry! Ron!" She hissed. They looked down and grinned. "Let's get it out!" She whispered.

After about five minutes of gently tugging the paper, it was finally free of Hermione's grasp. Megan smoothed it out and began to read it. "Basilisk…" She muttered. "Murderous stare… Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy… This is it!"

"And they wrote where the Chamber was in case the two of us were attacked." Ron said eagerly.

"You two are brilliant." Harry said to his petrified friends, who naturally didn't say anything.

"The murderous stare is why they checked corners with a mirror!" Megan said excitedly. "That's why Myrtle died and they didn't! Myrtle saw the Basilisk directly, they saw its reflection!"

"Colin had his camera!" Harry said, "And Justin saw the Basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick!"

"And Mrs. Norris?" Ron asked. "I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Harry."

"There was water on the floor that night, Ron! She saw the Basilisk's reflection in the water!"

The three of them were interrupted by another announcement ringing through the castle. "All students will return to their Houses immediately. Once again, all students return to their houses immediately."

They looked at each other with dread. Who was attacked this time? They heard Madam Pomfrey bustling out of her office and they all hid behind the curtain around Dante and Hermione's bed to avoid being sent back to their Houses. "Do you have your Cloak, Harry?" Megan whispered.

"Yeah." He breathed.

"Let's follow her."

They threw the Cloak on and followed Madam Pomfrey's quick footsteps to the corridor outside Myrtle's bathroom. On the wall next to the original message was a new one.

"_**Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.**_"

"As you can see, we have a new message. Our worst fears have been realized. Someone has been taken into the Chamber by the monster!" McGonagall cried. "The students must be sent home."

Just then, a suave voice was heard. "Sorry I'm late. What have I missed?"

"The man." Snape said icily. "Gilderoy, it's your time to shine. A student has been taken into the Chamber."

Lockhart paled. "Taken?"

"Didn't you say that you'd found the Chamber of Secrets months ago?"

"Did I? I-I-I think I-"

"It's settled." McGonagall said simply. "You'll go and rescue this student from the monster. Your skills are, of course, legendary."

Lockhart coughed. "Very… Very well." He said thickly. "I'll just be in my office getting… getting ready." He said before striding away.

"Who was it that's been taken, Minerva?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Ginny Weasley." She said sadly.

"No…" Ron gasped

"Come on, Ron. We're going to go get her." Harry insisted after clapping his hand over Ron's mouth. "Lockhart may be useless, but he's going into the Chamber. At least we can tell him what we know!"

They whipped the Cloak off and ran to Lockhart's office. "Professor!" Megan called when they got there, only to come up short. The room was stripped bare and Lockhart was in the middle of packing a large trunk. "Are you going somewhere?" She asked coldly.

"Yes. Urgent call. Can't cancel."

"What about my sister?" Ron demanded.

"Yes… most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I!" Lockhart said uncomfortably.

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor!" Ron bellowed.

"Well I must say, there was nothing in the job descrip- AAH!" He was cut off by a nasty punch to the face. Megan stood over him looking daggers at the man with her fist raised, ready to punch again. Harry and Ron had their wands raised and pointing at him.

"You're going to leave when we tell you to." She snarled at him.

"What would you have me do? I don't know where the Chamber is!"

"You're in luck." Harry said. "We do. Come on."

They led the man at wandpoint to Myrtle's bathroom. Harry walked over to the sinks and hissed at them. A clank, a scrape and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was open again. "Well done, Harry." Lockhart said, wiping blood from his split lip. "You seem to have this under control. I'll just be goi- AAH!" Once again, his cowardice was cut off by Megan punching him. She had to admit that it felt good to force him to live up to his reputation. She shoved him to the edge of the hole in the floor.

"After you." She said.

"What good would it do?" He moaned, clutching the bridge of his nose.

"Better you than us." Ron growled.

Lockhart nodded and turned around to face the hole. "You sure you don't want to test it first?" But Harry shoved his wand into the man's back, making him fall down the hole screaming. After a while, his voice carried up the tube. "It's really quite filthy down here."

"Right. We'll just go down, then." Harry said.

Steeling herself before she lost her nerve, Megan stepped forward, crossed her arms over her chest and jumped in. Her back began to graze the stone tube, and for a moment she was worried that the stone would tear at her skin, but it seemed magically smoothed somehow. Almost like a waterslide. After falling for a few seconds, the tunnel pitched up and she was sliding sideways and out into a chamber with very muted lighting. The floor was littered with rodent skeletons that she crushed underfoot, making her slightly queasy. Lockhart stood at the opposite side of the chamber, avoiding her gaze and a moment later, Harry and Ron crashed in as well.

They scrambled to their feet, still pointing their wands at Lockhart and looked around the room. "Remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away." Harry instructed before going to the tunnel that they didn't come through and climbed inside. Ron prodded Lockhart to get moving and Megan took up the rear.

The followed the rocky tunnel and something caught their attention. Right in front of them was something large and long. Megan frantically closed her eyes, but when she didn't hear anything but the other's voices, she peeked. On the ground was a gigantic snakeskin, at least eighty feet long with an enormous head. "Bloody hell…" Ron muttered. "Whatever shed this thing must be enormous!" He said before Lockhart fainted. "Heart of a lion, this one." He groused.

Lockhart opened his eyes a fraction and snatched Ron's wand out of his hand before springing to his feet. "The adventure ends here, kids. Not to worry, the world will know your story… how it was too late to save the girl… how you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So… you first, Mr. Potter. Say goodbye to your memories. **Obliviate!**" He shouted the memory charm making a bright flash appear from the damaged wand. The man was flung backwards into the tunnel wall with a crack and slid to the ground unconscious.

A rumbling noise followed and deep fissures appeared in the roof. Dust began to rain down on them through the fissures. Thinking fast, Megan tackled Ron back in the direction they came, just before the rock began to fall. Harry dove deeper into the tunnel and the three of them were separated by massive boulders. Gilderoy Lockhart began to stir and just as he stood up, a rock the size of a cannonball fell onto his head. The man made a horrible gurgling noise as his skull caved in and he sunk to the floor again, twitching. After a minute, the rumbling stopped and they were able to collect themselves.

"Harry?" Ron called out.

"Ron! Ron are you two okay?"

"We're fine!" Ron said.

"No we're not! Professor Lockhart is dead!" Megan cried. She glanced over at his body again and began to retch, emptying her stomach on the ground. A large red pool was forming around him and his twitching was growing weaker.

"Listen, Ron! Try and shift some of this rock! I'll go on and find Ginny!"

"Okay!"

Megan was still on the ground, rocking back and forth as she tried to steady herself. She couldn't tear her gaze away from him as his body finally went still. She was vaguely aware of Ron moving around her and some scraping noises, but she didn't care. She had just sat and watched as a man died. She didn't even try to help him. What was wrong with her? What kind of monster just sits and watches as someone dies?

Ron noticed the empty look on her face and stopped moving the rocks. He made his way over to her and crouched beside her, taking care not to step in her sick. "Megan?" She didn't notice. He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. "Megan?" He repeated.

This time she snapped out of her head. "Hmm?" She hummed distantly.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"For what?"

"Getting me out of the way."

"Oh. You're… you're welcome."

They sat in silence for a while, but a different noise drew their attention. An unearthly trill rang through the tunnel before a streak of red and orange flew past them and through the small opening that Ron had made in the cave-in. "What the bloody hell was that?" Megan shrugged and continued to stare vacantly. "Come on. Help me with this so we can get away from him."

She finally stood up and began moving rocks. "I don't want to do one of these adventures again." She muttered darkly as she worked. Rumbling could be heard in the direction that Harry went and she shuddered, thinking about what might lie ahead.

Finally they had a hole that was big enough for them to walk through and they stopped and stared at it. "Should we go?" Ron asked.

"We've come this far." She said in a hollow voice before stepping through and continuing down the tunnel. A hundred feet later, they reached a large, round, metal door adorned with snakes hanging ajar. Megan gripped the edge of it and opened it wider, revealing a large chamber with pools of green water on either side of the floor. Springing up from the water were many stone snake heads. She and Ron entered and saw three people at the far end of the Chamber. One lay motionless on the floor while the other two looked to be having an argument.

"Harry!" Ron yelled, catching two of the people's attention.

"Ah… a blood traitor and a mudblood come to join you, Potter!" The taller one of them growled.

As they got closer, Megan could see the taller boy was wearing Slytherin colors and a Prefect badge. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"I am the greatest sorcerer in the world, silly girl! I am Lord Voldemort!" He growled at her. He then turned back to Harry. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin against the might of Harry Potter and his pathetic friends." He turned around to look at a statue and began to speak in Parseltongue. The statue's mouth opened, and a thick, poisonous green snake slithered out and into the pool before them. Another hiss from Voldemort and he smirked at them. "Parseltongue won't save you now, Potter! It only obeys me!"

Harry, Ron and Megan all took off running in different directions when the same unearthly trill echoed throughout the Chamber. A horrible screeching followed, making Megan curious enough to see what was happening. In front of the Basilisk's face was a Phoenix clawing at and gouging at the horrible serpent's eyes.

"No!" Voldemort yelled. "Your bird may have blinded the beast, Potter, but it can still hear you!"

Harry was still the closest to it and he backed away slowly, but a stone crumbled underfoot. The Basilisk stopped flailing instantly and lunged it's many fanged mouth at him, forcing him to dive away.

"Diffindo!" Megan yelled, sending a cutting hex at the snake, but it had no effect. It turned on her and sprang towards her. Ron cast his own cutting hex, but it, too, failed to do anything. The three of them spaced out evenly around the monster with Ron and Megan casting whatever spells they could think of, but nothing was getting through its skin.

Suddenly, Harry ran off towards Voldemort and picked something shiny up off the floor. The Basilisk followed him, ignoring the ineffective spells cast by the other two. He climbed the statue of Salazar Slytherin and stood on its head, brandishing a long sword. The snake bared its fangs and lunged at him a few times with Harry slashing madly around with the sword. One final attack by the Basilisk and Harry thrust the blade into the roof of its mouth, penetrating deep into its skull. The blade was forced up and out the top of the Basilisk's head, making it screech in pain. He pulled the sword out, clutching his elbow and the snake swung around before collapsing on the Chamber floor, dead.

Harry unsteadily climbed down from the statue and walked back over to Voldemort, who gave him a look of deepest loathing. "Amazing how quickly the Basilisk's venom works, isn't it, Potter? I estimate you have little more than a minute left. You'll be with your dear muggle mother soon."

Megan and Ron ran over as well and watched in horror as Harry extracted a six inch long fang from the crook of his elbow. They held Voldemort at wandpoint while keeping and eye on Harry. He reached down and picked up a diary that Ginny's unconscious form had held to her chest.

"Funny." Voldemort commented. "The damage a simple diary can do… Especially in the hands of a silly little girl." Harry opened the diary. "What are you doing?" Harry looked up at him and gripped the Basilisk fang tightly. "Stop! No!" The fang was plunged into the pages of the diary, with ink pouring out of the wounded pages like blood. Voldemort's chest opened with a bright gaping hole. Over and over again, Harry stabbed the diary, poking more holes in Voldemort in the process. He finally closed the diary and jammed the fang into the cover. Voldemort exploded in a shower of golden sparks.

Ginny woke with a start, scanning the room around her. "Harry! It was me! I didn't mean to! Riddle made me!"

Ron rushed forward and hugged his sister. "Don't worry about it, Ginny." Harry bit out as calmly as he could. "You three need to get out of here." He said, clutching his arm tightly.

"You're hurt!" Ginny cried.

"You should see the other guy." Harry said with a lopsided grin. The Phoenix came back and landed beside Harry. "You were brilliant, Fawkes. I just wasn't quick enough."

At that moment, one of the most amazing things Megan had ever seen happened. Fawkes bent his head over Harry's arm and let several large teardrops fall on the hole in his arm. Steam poured out of the wound as it healed before their eyes. "Of course!" Harry gasped. "Phoenix tears have healing powers! Thanks!"

The bird trilled happily. "It's okay Ginny. It's just a memory." Fawkes held out his leg in obvious offering and Harry grasped at it. The bird then flapped its enormous wings, lifting Harry above the ground and it hovered there. "Someone grab onto my leg!" Harry said.

Megan fastened her hand around his ankle and felt suddenly weightless. The bird lifted her higher then she felt Ron grab her ankle, yet she didn't feel his weight. After Ginny held onto Ron's ankle, the bird carried them all out of the Chamber of Secrets, through various chasms that led to a ravine on the grounds. They were deposited at the front doors of the castle and the majestic bird flew far away into the bright blue sky.

Megan looked down at her watch and was amazed at how early it still was. It was only half past four! They wouldn't even be in trouble for being out after dark! They opened the doors and made their way stiffly to the Hospital Wing, leaving a trail of muck behind them.

"Potter!" Someone yelled. They looked around to see the furious face of Professor Snape bounding towards them. "What are you doing without an esco- Miss Weasley?" Snape looked amazed at the youngest redhead, then looked over the rest of them. "Where have you been?"

"Chamber of Secrets." Megan said quickly. "Ginny needed rescuing, you see."

Snape's eyes bored into hers. "Didn't Professor Lockhart go into the Chamber?"

Megan felt a new wave of nausea hit her. "He's… he didn't make it." She choked out.

Professor Snape's demeanor softened. "Follow me, all of you." He lead them the rest of the way to the Hospital Wing and a fuming Madam Pomfrey.

"Good heavens! What have you lot gotten yourselves into?" She demanded of her latest charges. "Well?"

"We fought against a Basilisk." Ron muttered.

Pomfrey blanched. "You stupid, stupid children! What were you thinking? Miss Weasley? Oh dear, all of you take a bed and I'll be back." She bustled away into her office and came back a few moments later, carrying many potions that she set on each of their end tables. "Drink up, all of you!" She barked at them.

Megan picked up the potion that had been presented to her and sniffed it. At the pointed look from the Matron, she shrugged and gulped it down, feeling a powerful warmth surge through her body.

"Miss Monte." Professor Snape began, making his way over to her bed. "You said that Professor Lockhart didn't make it. I will ask you to explain."

She gulped and nodded. "He… he stole Ron's wand and tried to wipe Harry's memories with it."

"The spell backfired, then, didn't it?" He asked quietly.

She nodded again. "He was… knocked backwards into the wall… and caused a cave-in. A rock fell on his… on his… his head." She was hyperventilating now, the image of Lockhart's death burned into her eyes.

"Very well. One last thing, did you see the moment he passed?" A slight nod was her answer. "When you leave this ward, I'll show you something." He looked over at Madam Pomfrey and nodded before leaving.

"Take this, dear." The Mediwitch said, handing over another potion. "Dreamless Sleep Draught."

Megan happily obliged and after a few seconds, she had drifted off to sleep, undisturbed by memories of the day.


	19. Second Summer Part 1

"Let's wake Mr. Monte up first so we can free Miss Granger from his grasp." Madam Pomfrey said, walking over to the young couple's bed with two small vials. She set one down on the table beside their bed and brought one to Dante's lips. A horrible, acidic substance assaulted his mouth and he made the first noise that could escape his mouth in twenty days. He groaned in disgust. "It's alright, Mr. Monte. You're back with us now." Madam Pomfrey soothed.

Dante opened his mouth with a horrible crunch. He worked his jaw around, getting all of the pops out of it before attempting to speak. "I was never gone." He rasped.

"What do you mean?"

"I was awake the whole time."

Pomfrey paled. "Oh, dear… Let's get you free so we can move on to the others, yes?"

He began moving his neck around, crackling with every new position. Once he was able to move his head without discomfort, he focused on his fingers, still latched onto Hermione's hand. With a sickening crunch, they sprang free and he was able to see a deep purple bruise forming on his right forefinger. More crackling signalled the movement of his arms and legs, and after quite a while, he was disentangled from his girlfriend. He scooted aside to allow the Mediwitch better access, and the process was repeated on Hermione.

Dante watched enraptured as the light reentered her eyes, and felt his own beginning to water at the sight. Once she had regained her mobility, she flung her arms around him, sobbing. "I'm so glad I can do this again, I was so worried." She wailed into his chest.

Madam Pomfrey had busied herself with freeing the others, leaving Dante and Hermione to talk. "I couldn't feel you anymore…" Dante said quietly. "You were gone."

"I couldn't feel you either! I was terrified that… that maybe you had died…" Hermione choked out.

Dante held her close and stroked her back soothingly. "We're still here."

She squeezed him tightly in response. "How furious were you with the others?"

"Livid." Dante said darkly. "I thought some very unkind things about all three of them."

She giggled. "Do we need to apologize for that? Thinking poorly of them when we couldn't talk to them?"

"You can if you like."

"I think we should. They did eventually work it out, though I was less than pleased with how… roughly your sister searched me."

"You and me both." He nodded. "You know… I was just looking for a good excuse to hold your hand. This was _not_ what I had in mind."

She swatted him playfully on the chest. "You don't need an excuse, Dante."

"I thought your shaky hand was a good enough reason to hold it." He shrugged and placed a tender kiss on the top of her head. Just then, the doors opened and Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout and Dumbledore came in along with Mr. Filch. The Heads of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor went over to the bedside of their own students, with McGonagall going to Colin first, and Filch went over to his beloved cat, beloved by him, anyway. Professors Snape and Dumbledore made their way further into the ward to see Dante and Hermione. "Professors." Dante said in greeting.

"Mr. Monte, Miss Granger, good to see you back in the land of the living." Dumbledore said genially.

"I never left, sir. I already told Madam Pomfrey, we were awake the whole time."

"You… You weren't unconscious at all?"

"I was awake when I was petrified. I very well couldn't fall asleep while I was." He looked down at his lap. "Every second." He mumbled.

"Well then…" Dumbledore began, exchanging glances with Snape, who looked equally uncomfortable. "I wonder how up to date on events you are, if you were awake the whole time."

"We didn't hear much of what was going on." Hermione said. "The curtains blocked out a lot of the sound."

"Naturally." The old professor nodded. "Well then, allow me to summarize what has happened since you were placed in Madam Pomfrey's excellent care."

When Dante and Hermione remained silent, he continued. "In response to the attack on you two and Miss Clearwater, some security measures were put into place. All students were to be escorted between their lessons and be back in their Houses by six. Naturally, you two would have noticed your visitors, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Monte."

"They immediately began investigating what happened to the pair of you. After quite some time of not making progress, much to your chagrin, I would imagine." He gave them a twinkling look over his spectacles. "They came to visit you again, looking to see if you had any hints on your person. In your hand, Miss Granger, they found a page torn out of a library book."

"This answered many of their questions, and according to them, they planned on revealing all that they had discovered at this moment. Unfortunately, Miss Weasley was taken into the Chamber to die, forcing the three of them to take drastic action. They confronted Professor Lockhart, who was attempting to flee the school, and lead him to the Chamber of Secrets."

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "While they were down there, Professor Lockhart grew desperate to escape. He stole Mr. Weasley's damaged wand and attempted to wipe the memories of your friends. When his memory charm backfired, he inadvertently caused a cave-in, and was killed by falling debris."

Dante and Hermione blanched. "Professor Lockhart is dead?" Hermione asked in a small voice.

"Yes, Miss Granger. Mr. Monte, your sister witnessed his death and may need someone strong to help her deal with her emotions from this. I understand that she became rather… aggressive towards him when she saw that he wanted to flee the school rather than help Ginny. I expect that she's feeling rather conflicted about everything that happened with him."

Dante nodded. "I can do that."

"The tunnel collapse separated Megan and Ronald from Harry, causing Harry to go on ahead to attempt to rescue Ginny. Ronald and Megan were left to clear the debris so they would be able to get through and after a while, they managed to slip through and reunite with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. There they encountered a shade in the form of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the name that Lord Voldemort went by until his sixth year here at Hogwarts. Tom summoned his Basilisk and your three friends battled with it, ultimately killing it."

Dante's head was swimming with all of this information. "So now, Professor, is Voldemort out of options for returning?"

Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not."

"Mr. Monte, do try to convince your sister to return. I rarely get to see talent like hers in my classroom. It would be a shame for her to give it up."

Dante blinked at him. "I… I'll be sure to pass on the message, sir."

Professor McGonagall then came over to talk to the eldest Gryffindor victims. She looked deeply disturbed by her conversation with Colin. "I suppose that you two were awake as well?" The couple nodded. "Oh dear. Well, Albus, Severus, did you need anything else with these two? I'd like to speak to them about something considerably more cheerful."

"I believe that we're done here, don't you Severus?" The Potions Master nodded. "Very well, good day, Mr. Monte, Miss Granger." Dumbledore bowed and strode out of the Hospital Wing.

McGonagall sat down on the chair beside their bed and wiped a tear from her eye. "I spoke with Mr. Creevey just now and… I can't imagine how horrible it must have been… trapped inside your own bodies." She gave a sniffle and cleared her throat. "I said I wanted to speak with you two about something more cheerful and I meant it. With third-year coming up for you, have you given any thought about what electives you might be interested in?"

Hermione looked down at her lap, wringing her hands. "To be honest, Professor, I'm having trouble thinking of subjects that I wouldn't be interested in."

"Oh? Even Muggle Studies?" She chuckled.

"I… I think it would be interesting to hear about muggles from the wizarding perspective."

"We can discuss this more later with you, Miss Granger. What about you, Mr. Monte?"

"Well, I thought that Ancient Runes would be pretty interesting. Care of Magical Creatures as well, and Arithmancy."

"All very good choices, Mr. Monte. I took Ancient Runes and Arithmancy myself and found them to be fascinating subjects."

Dante smiled. "I figured Ancient Runes would be like learning another language. I already speak three and am getting better at a fourth."

"I would agree with your assessment, Mr. Monte. Studying Ancient Runes is very much like learning a language. Arithmancy, in the higher years, is needed to create your own spells, if you choose to go that far in the course."

"That's what caught my attention, Professor." Dante said. "That and casting and breaking wards."

"I expect so." McGonagall smiled. "Very well. Do either of you have any questions?" Dante and Hermione shook their heads. "Then I will begin working on your supply list for next term, Mr. Monte. Miss Granger, we'll have to discuss your classes further at a future date." She stood up and left the ward as Madam Pomfrey came to check over them again.

Three days later, they were all declared healthy enough to leave. With the excitement of getting the petrified mobile again, all visitors to the Hospital Wing were barred. Madam Pomfrey wanted nobody to distract her charges. By dinner time on the twenty-third day that Dante and Hermione were in the ward, they were released from the Mediwitch's care.

Dante and Hermione walked hand in hand to the Great Hall behind Jusin, Penelope and Colin. While they were recovering together, they got to know Colin a little better. Hermione's heart ached for the poor kid, he had been trapped inside his head for six months and didn't even get any visitors in that time. As he walked ahead of them, he had a hollow look in his eyes, like he wasn't really there. Ginny had been ordered to go to the Hospital Wing every evening to speak with a Mind Healer about her experiences. The Healer was open for the petrified students as well, and Dante had convinced Colin to see him.

Dante saw Megan throw her arms around her friend when she got to her spot at the Ravenclaw table with tears in her eyes. He thought about what he might do to convince her to come back. Everything that could have gone wrong for her first year at Hogwarts seemed to have happened, apart from her being petrified along with him. Hell, even Harry didn't see Quirrell die; he had fainted before that happened.

The couple continued towards their spot at Gryffindor's table and a few people in their year pointed them out to Harry and Ron. Hermione released Dante's hand and sprinted towards them, nearly tackling them in a fierce hug. Dante followed suit, though less aggressively and smiled to himself when he saw Hermione muttering "Stupid… stupid… stupid..." She emphasized each word with a weak punch to Harry's chest.

"Oy, Hermione!" Ron said in mock annoyance. "We didn't kill a Basilisk for you to call us stupid!"

"I'm sorry." She sniffed. "It's just… you could have died and we never would have seen you again!"

"We did have a teacher with us… at first." Harry said. "Mate… Your sister isn't happy."

Dante nodded. "Snape's asked me to try to convince her to come back. Says he rarely sees talent like hers and it would be a shame to give it up. Was it bad down there? With Lockhart?"

Ron shuddered. "His head caved in just like the tunnel. There wasn't anything any of us could do to save him."

"God damn…" Dante muttered, looking over to his sister. "She saw that?"

Ron nodded. "She threw up when she saw it."

"I bet I would, too!" Dante said, still watching Megan. "What a year… and I notice that you haven't scolded me for my profanity, Miss Granger."

"I haven't because I happen to agree with you." Hermione said primly. She took a breath. "God damn."

The boys gaped at her. "I've had a bad influence on you, Hermione." Dante grinned.

"I understand that there are situations that it is acceptable to swear in." She huffed, crossing her arms. "I believe this is one of them."

"Is this your first time swearing, Hermione?" Harry asked, smirking at her. Hermione didn't say anything in response, but she did stick her tongue out at him.

After exchanging some messages with his aunt and uncle along with Hermione's parents, Dante scheduled a visit to her place at the same time as last year, last weekend before term, though this time he would stay that whole week. As for Hermione's visit, he'd arranged for her to visit his aunt and uncle's house at the beginning of July and stay for a week. Harry and Ron would come for his birthday, then leave that evening. The train journey back to London was subdued, and ended with a tearful goodbye to his friends.

As Dante and Megan walked around Diagon Alley before their Portkey took them back to Ohio, Dante found himself continuously glancing over at his sister. Her vacant expression made him uneasy. After a while, he decided they should go to Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream. They ordered sundaes and ate outside the parlour. While they were enjoying their frozen treats, Dante looked up at his sister again. "Megan? How do you feel?"

She gave him a disdainful look. "Like shit." She grumbled.

"You know, Professor Snape's asked me to try to convince you to go back next term."

"Good luck with that. After seeing all of this… Lockhart…"

"What did you see?"

"I watched him die and I didn't do anything to help him. What could you possibly say to me to make that alright?"

"Nothing." Dante admitted. "Just tell me this: How much healing magic do you know?"

"None."

"Okay, then how much could you have done in the first place?"

"Nothing."

"Great, so we agree on that."

"Great, so I know that you don't understand how I'm feeling."

"Megan if there's anyone who understands, it's me and my friends. Don't forget about last year for me."

Megan glared at him. "Okay, Dante. Did you know that Gilderoy Lockhart didn't die right away?"

"Nope."

"A rock the size of a cannonball crushed his skull and he fell to the ground twitching for about three minutes, bleeding out. And I didn't do anything but watch. Have you seen anything like that?"

"Not exactly. You know what I did experience?"

"Yeah. I know. Nearly dying a couple of times at school. I didn't really believe you until I went down into the Chamber. And now, I don't know what is wrong with you that would make you want to go back. I hated Lockhart that day. I hurt him. Now he's dead."

"You hated him? I thought you liked his classes."

"We overheard the teachers telling him to go down into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny. He'd bragged about knowing where it was months ago. We followed him to his office and he was packing all of his things, planning on leaving the school."

"And so you, Harry and Ron forced him to go to the Chamber."

"I punched him in the face when he started making excuses. Then when Harry opened the Chamber, he tried to convince us to go in without him. I punched him again, and I think I broke his nose that time."

"So what do you think Lockhart would do if it was you hurt by the cave-in, Megan?"

"Nothing. Run away."

"Nobody is going to ask you to jump into another dangerous adventure with me and my friends. Avoid us all year. We won't think poorly of you because you're more sensible than we are."

"If I'm so much more sensible, how did I not think to tell an adult other than Lockhart where the Chamber was and what was down there? That's what we should have done, but no, we jumped down into a slimy hole to kill a hundred foot long snake that could kill by just looking us in the eye. And the only adult there was a fraud who got beat in a duel by a second-year."

"Yes, well done, Megan, You've discovered that hindsight is 20-20." He snorted. "Do you think I haven't had these arguments with myself after the end of last year? Do you think I'm not having it now? Looking back, I should have known that Quirrell was the one after the Stone. There were loads of subtle signs pointing to him, there were just bigger ones pointing to Snape."

"Okay, why didn't you go to a teacher last year to tell anyone?"

"We did. We planned on talking to Dumbledore, but he was away at the Ministry. We tried talking to the next best person, McGonagall, but she brushed us aside. Could we have talked to other professors? I bet Flitwick would have taken us seriously. Certainly. But looking at it in hindsight, we aren't feeling the desperation that we felt when we made those decisions. When we talked to McGonagall, time was running out. Who knows how long it would have taken us to find Flitwick? How long would it have taken to explain it to him? Sure, we could have, and probably should have tried him and maybe even Professor Sprout before we went after the Stone ourselves, but that didn't look like an option at the time, did it?"

Megan was quiet for a while, mulling over his words. "If I didn't force him to come with us, Lockhart would still be alive."

"Do you honestly think that Harry and Ron would have let him leave the school if you weren't there? I don't know if they would've punched him, but they would have dragged him along with or without you."

Megan snarled. "Dante, I'm the reason he's dead! _I _made him come with us. _I_ wouldn't let him leave!"

"We may as well blame Dobby for Lockhart's death if you want to do it this way."

"What?"

"Dobby the House Elf didn't want Harry to go back to school this year."

"I wonder why." Megan groused.

"On September 1st, before Harry and Ron could get through the barrier at Platform 9-3/4, he sealed it. So they flew Ron's dad's car to school and crashed it into the Whomping Willow. When they crashed, Ron's wand snapped, and come late May, Lockhart steals that broken wand and attempts to erase your memories with it. He causes a cave-in, he dies. Look at that, Dobby is responsible for the death of Gilderoy Lockhart. _And_ you aren't in this chain of events."

Megan went quiet again, idly stirring her ice cream with her spoon. "When did you get so mature?"

"Near death experiences. You'll look back on everything that happened with the Chamber of Secrets, and you'll learn from it. The mistakes you made dealing with that will haunt you until you figure out what you could have done better, and accept that you made those mistakes."

"I… I'll think about it."

"That's a given." Dante smirked. "You know, Hermione and I thought some very unkind things about the three of you while we were petrified."

"Why?"

"The answer to all of your questions was _right there_ in Hermione's hand. _Inches _away from you! You came by so many times and missed it so many times!"

"Why would we ever think to look in your girlfriend's hand for a torn out page of a book?"

"Because we're clever. I know you stopped to consider that we would have done something like that well before you found it."

"Yeah but… fine, we were slow on the uptake."

"Now imagine being in my position, trapped in my head, and watching as you passed over the key you've been searching for every day."

"I'd want to tear my hair out."

"I _wish_ I could have torn my hair out." Dante chuckled before shuddering. "That potion Madam Pomfrey gave us was vile. I'd imagine that's what battery acid tastes like."

"I wish I didn't see the guy who everyone is afraid to name."

"How handsome was sixteen-year-old Voldemort? I'd heard that he was rather dashing."

Megan blushed. "He was… he was good looking."

"Shame he let those good looks go, you should have seen him last year. Ugly as can be, no nose either. Slits."

Their Portkey began to whistle before Megan could reply, so Dante hastily dropped it on the table and put his finger to it. Megan touched the silver bell herself and a moment later, they were spinning in a whirl of color. They stopped on the front porch of their aunt and uncle's house and stepped inside. After being greeted by the whole family, they sat around the dinner table to talk about their school year.

"Flitwick ask you about electives yet?" Dante asked Megan.

"No, why? When do you start taking electives? What electives are there, even?"

"You're meant to start them third year. I'm taking Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures. There's also Muggle Studies and Divination, but as we're muggleborn, I fail to see why I would take that. Divination is pretty much useless to study unless you're a Seer, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not one."

Justine looked confused. "Why would you take Care of Magical Creatures? That doesn't sound like you at all."

"I'd like to share at least one elective with Harry and Ron." Dante said, shrugging. "They're taking that one and Divination because they figure it'd be an easy pass."

A rattling at the window drew their attention. Looking over, they saw two handsome owls bearing envelopes sealed with wax. Megan stood up, retrieved the letters and handed one to Dante. The wax seal indicated that the letter had come from the Pittsburgh branch of Gringotts. He broke the seal and pulled out the parchment inside. Brian and Justine simply watched as their niece and nephew's eyes skimmed across their letters, then rolled back into their heads as they fainted.

Dante woke to his aunt fanning his face. He sat up off the floor and gulped. "Have you two read the letters?"

"They were yours, Dante." Brian said.

"I've… been given some money." He said quietly.

"You too?" Megan asked, to which he nodded.

"Who would give you money? How much money could someone give you to make you faint?"

"Harry Potter." They said in unison.

"I don't know about you, but he's given me twenty-thousand Galleons." Dante muttered.

"Same."

Justine shrieked. "Twenty-thousand? That's, what? A hundred? Hundred twenty thousand dollars? Why would he do that?"

Dante and Megan exchanged looks. "We… helped him kill a monster." Megan said to her lap.

"He sold the monster's body and gave each of us a cut."

"What kind of monster?" Brian asked angrily.

Dante answered in a barely audible voice. "Basilisk."

"Big snake." Megan said.

"Kills by looking you in the eye."

Brian and Justine groaned and held their faces in their hands. "Why… why would you go after a snake that can kill by looking you in the eye?"

"So it wouldn't kill anyone." Dante answered immediately. "Snake had to be killed before it hurt anyone."

"Is this the real reason you stopped writing to us for a while?"

"Yeah." He mumbled. "The… the snake found me and Hermione."

"If it found you, how are you alive? You said it can kill you by making eye contact."

"Hermione and I didn't look it directly in the eye. We… we just figured out that it was a Basilisk, and we were trying to do things properly unlike last year. We ran to, well towards, the staff room from the library once we figured it out. We wanted to tell the adults in the school so us children wouldn't have to deal with the danger again. When we learned that it kills by eye contact, we decided to check around corners with Hermione's makeup mirror on our way to tell people."

"Oh good." Justine scoffed. "So you would be killed around a corner."

"It has to be direct eye contact. Reflections don't count, and looking at it through something other than glasses doesn't count. Ghosts or cameras for example. Just because you see a reflection of its eyes though, doesn't mean you're out of danger. If you see a Basilisk's eyes indirectly, you'll be petrified. The word means 'turned to stone' which, in this case, isn't entirely accurate. You aren't physically turned to stone, but you're frozen completely still. Can't move a muscle, can't blink, can't breathe (though you don't need to), your heart doesn't beat, you're a statue."

Dante took a deep breath. "Just before Hermione and I reached the staff room, the Basilisk stopped us and we were petrified. _But_ we had taken precautions. In the event that this _exact thing_ happened, we had a way to make sure the word got out before we were finally free to move again. Hermione tore out the page from the library book we found the Basilisk in, and I wrote where the thing had been hiding on it. She kept it in her hand for the entire trip to the staff room, and on our way, we told the first person we saw what the monster was. Unfortunately for that girl, she was petrified before she could tell anyone else."

Dante turned to glare at his sister. "Megan, would you care to mention how long it took you to figure out that we had the answers with us?"

"Eighteen days." She grumbled.

"I was petrified for twenty. If it had taken them much longer to figure it out, I would have been able to tell them to their face."

"Dante… how can you expect us to send you back to that school if things like this happen?" Brian asked desperately.

"The past two years have been… abnormally dangerous, even for Hogwarts. I think Harry is just a magnet for trouble. It finds him wherever he goes, and anyone who associates with him gets caught in it as well."

"From what I've heard about school before Dante showed up, it's not that much more dangerous a place than a school here. Magic is going to make things more dangerous by default, but it also makes it easier to fix things that get broken." Megan said slowly.

"And you're never going to agree to distance yourself from Harry, are you, Dante?"

"Never. He's my best friend, what kind of person would I be if I left him alone to protect myself?"

"Someone who's still alive." Justine groused.

Dante wore a smug look. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that I'm alive right now. Despite nine failed attempts on my life. I've got more lives than a cat."

"I've got two now. Maybe three, depending on how you want to count it." Megan grumbled.

Justine grew paler still than she was already. "What happened to you, Megan?"

Megan began explaining her trip into the Forest and down into the Chamber of Secrets, leaving out the fact that she saw Lockhart die.

"How big was it?"

"Hundred feet long, maybe?" Megan speculated. "Somewhere around there."

"Its head was taller than me, I know that much."

"So this… Voldemort person doesn't like witches and wizards like you two because...?" Brian asked.

"We were born wrong, according to him and people who think like him anyway. There are a few people in school who think muggleborns like us are less important than half-bloods and pure-bloods." Dante explained. "There aren't really that many of them, in school they're just annoying."

"So they treat Hermione badly, too, don't they?"

"No worse than they do me." Dante shrugged.

"Why would you keep these things from us?"

"Because I like going to Hogwarts." Dante mumbled. "It's not all monsters and dangerous adventures. Those… add to the excitement of being there, I suppose, but I just love learning all about magic and being there with my friends. I don't want to leave there even if I'd be safer away from there."

"We're going to talk about whether we send you back after this year, Dante. I know you want to go, but we don't want something to happen to you, too."

"Even now with all my new classes? I'll hardly have any time to do anything dangerous!" Dante protested. "I'll be buried in homework! I don't even know if I'll have time to go to the Dueling Club!"

"If we let you go back, Dante, what we want from you is to make another one of these notebooks and give it to a teacher and give us the other one. We can't have another communication blackout from you again. _Ever._" Justine said sternly.

"I can make one for each of our Heads. Professor McGonagall for me, Professor Flitwick for her."

"Perfect. We're still going to talk about it, but if you can do that for us, it will help." Brian said before dismissing them.

Come July 3rd, his aunt and uncle hadn't told them whether they planned on sending him and Megan back to school in September. Harry, Ron and Hermione all managed to take their Portkeys to the Monte's house and celebrated Dante's birthday with him. Hermione had, of course, given him a book of advanced Runes. Ron brought loads of magical sweets, including Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. When Dante's grandmother tried one, she was disgusted to find that it was an ash flavoured one. Ron busied himself entertaining Dante's family with stories about the wizarding world. His inexperience with anything muggle confused them, but they were eager to explain things like televisions and electricity to him.

Harry, as it turned out, also went to a magical bookstone. He'd given Dante a book titled _Advanced Transfiguration: A Guide to Human Transformations_.

"Like it?" Harry asked eagerly. "I bet you'll master everything in there by this year."

" '_Human Transformations?_' " Dante asked. "That's really far ahead. N.E.W.T. Level."

"There's some stuff about Animagi in there. Wouldn't it be brilliant if the four of us became Animagi?" Harry pressed on.

"Yeah, I expect it will be, Mister Benefactor." Dante replied dryly before lowering his voice. "Twenty-thousand Galleons, Harry? How much was that damn snake worth?"

"Three-hundred-fifty thousand." He said with a smirk. "Gave two-hundred-twenty thousand away to split between you, your sister, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Colin, Justin, Penelope, whoever is alive related to Nick, same for Myrtle and Filch." He stuck out a finger for each name.

"Thank you, really. I don't know what to say, honestly. That's so much money, Harry!"

"You'd've done the same. We wouldn't have figured out what was down there without you and Hermione. Colin, bloody hell, I'm still not too eager to be around him but nobody deserves to be petrified for that long."

"Harry, imagine how he reacted when he got his letter from Gringotts."

"I'm sure he wet himself when he saw that the Great Harry Potter noticed him and gave him money." Harry groused.

"Megan and I fainted." Dante said to Harry's laughter. "Yeah, you laugh now, Potter. But now, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go back. The letters demanded an explanation and my aunt and uncle aren't pleased."

"Ah hell, sorry about that. Maybe I should have waited to give it to you until we got back."

"We'll deal with it, I've been negotiating with them and I'll have to make two more pairs of those notebooks that will let them write to McGonagall and Flitwick."

"That's not too bad." Harry said.

Before Harry and Ron left, Dante handed him a present, his muggle Gameboy Advance and copy of Pokémon Emerald. "To help pass the time while you're in Fort Dursley." He commented.

As his two friends bound for Divination next year vanished in a blue flash, Hermione sat down next to Dante and leaned on his shoulder. "What do we have planned for the week, Dante?"

"Camping. We're going to Hocking Hills." He said with a grin.

"Wonderful! I love camping outdoors."

"I think we've rented a cabin, but maybe there's a tent we can use if you like."

"Trying to sleep in a tent with me already? Oh dear, you've only just turned thirteen and getting quite bold." She teased.

Dante smirked. "I do like the idea of sleeping with you."

Hermione rolled her eyes affectionately. "I think I might like that as well. Are we leaving tomorrow, then?"

"I believe so."

"Excellent. Now, let's go back to the pool!" She squealed. "I've not swam in so long!"

Seeing Hermione in a red bikini was testing Dante's newly teenage hormones dangerously, but chanting revolting things in his head allowed him to control himself. It also helped when he surreptitiously hid his erection in the waistband of his trunks. Dante had always been a pretty good swimmer; he was by no means fast in the water, but he was nimble and able to swim as fast as he could underwater for well over a minute before coming back up for air. When night fell, Dante, Hermione, Megan, Brian and Justine all sat around the firepit in their backyard, with the adults drinking beers and the teens roasting marshmallows. Finally, well after midnight, they made their way up to bed. Hermione shared Megan's bedroom, and as was traditional, shared a silent conversation with her boyfriend before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The trip to Hocking Hills didn't take terribly long after a quick stop to pick up Roger in North Canton. It seemed fair, Dante thought. He was here with his girlfriend, it would feel wrong to deprive Megan of the same. They all quickly unpacked in the cabin and were given the ground rules for the trip.

"No second base." Justine said sternly. "I know you guys are thinking that this is a great place to enjoy yourselves that way, but you're all too young."

Dante raised his hand in question. "I don't know bases." He said, to Megan groaning and holding her head in her hands.

"First base, dear brother, is making out. _Snogging_, if you prefer."

Dante nodded. "Okay."

"Second base is copping a feel up top." She added.

"Third?"

"We're not going to talk about third or fourth." Justine cut in. "At least not with us around."

"Do you seriously not know how… it all works?" Megan asked.

"Oy!" Dante said, outraged. "Just because I don't know the terms people make up for this sort of thing doesn't mean I don't know what's going on! I just said I don't know what the bases correspond to."

"Good, because I don't want to have to give The Talk again." Brian grumbled. "You kids go have fun, doing anything other than _that_, and be safe."

Megan and Roger went down to the lake, while Dante and Hermione took to the hiking trail, admiring all of the wildlife along the way. The trail had many places for them to step aside and have a quick snog, which they did quite often. They sat down at one of these copses on a small stone bench.

"I don't know what I'd do if you can't come back." Hermione said quietly.

"At least we've got the notebooks." He said.

She scoffed. "Yes, that'll be a perfect substitute for this."

"I know. I just don't want to think about how sad I'll be."

"Have you thought about maybe suggesting that they send you to Ilvermorny instead?"

Dante scowled. "I have, but I don't like it. It was hard enough making friends the first time. I don't want to have to do it all over again. And nobody else I meet is going to be able to compare to you, or Harry and Ron, or even Daphne."

Hermione nodded. "I just think that you should still finish your magical education. Even if we have to do it apart from each other, I'd hate for you to fall behind because your aunt and uncle are afraid."

Dante pondered for a moment. "Do you think you could get a letter to McGonagall when you go home?"

"Sure, what do you need me to tell her?"

"I need her to come and talk to them. I think it'll ease their minds, hearing from a professor that we'll be safe."

"Getting to first base over here, are we?" A voice said.

Dante looked around to see Megan and Roger strolling over to them. "Listen, I don't ask how far you two have gone."

"Fine, you two have a minute? We want to talk." Megan said.

"By all means." Hermione said, and the older couple sat down on a stone bench across from them.

"I haven't told Roger all about what happened last year, I figured it would be best if we were all here to talk about it."

"Okay." Dante said slowly. "What, erm, where do you want to start?"

"Megan's told me that you have dangerous adventures at school. I just don't understand what you could possibly get up to there that would be so dangerous that it might put you in a coma."

"Coma? Oh! Right, by all outward appearances… I was awake for all of that, just unable to move. Anyway…" Dante explained how the attacks started, with finding Mrs. Norris on Halloween, to Colin a few weeks later, then Justin while he was back in America. He got to the part where he and Hermione discovered what the monster was and once again glared at his sister. "Took her long enough to notice the rather obvious page in Hermione's hand."

"Dante it's alright." Hermione scolded. "They did find it eventually, er, very eventually."

"Eighteen days, Roger. Imagine seeing someone pass over the answers they're looking for every day for eighteen days!"

"And this Basilisk was a giant snake?"

"Huge." Dante said. "I didn't see how long it was, but the head was massive. Probably six feet tall. I could stand up straight in its mouth."

"Why didn't it eat you? Or anyone?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Roger." Dante said. "I expect that it was only ordered to stop us, not eat us. The girl that was being possessed by Riddle needed time to be… drained, I guess is the right word for it. He couldn't have people killed right away, the girl would be taken away and she wouldn't have been able to get into the Chamber."

"So, you've avoided talking about what happened down there so far. What was it like?"

"It was bad." Megan said darkly. "Have you ever… have you ever seen someone die?"

Roger paled. "No, what did you see?"

"I watched a rock hit our Defense professor in the head and kill him. He… he didn't die right away. Not really, anyway. He twitched for a while until he bled out."

Roger pulled her into a hug. "I can't imagine how disturbing that must be."

"After I was let out of the Hospital Wing, Professor Snape took me over to Professor Grubbly-Plank. They lead me to a pen in the Forest and showed me these… horse things."

Roger raised his eyebrows. "Horse things?"

"They're called Thestrals. They looked like horses, I guess. But they looked dead, leathery skin, cloudy eyes. They have wings, too."

"I've never seen one." Dante said.

"You can't." Megan said. "Snape told me that they can only be seen by people who've seen death."

"Why would he show you those things?" Roger asked.

"He said that he wanted me to see that my perspective's been changed." She explained. "I've seen that people die and know that I'll die someday, too. He said that now that I know this, I'll use my time more wisely than I have before."

"I think that's a lot like what I've told you when we were in Diagon Alley."

"I suppose. We're both aware of…" She trailed off.

"Our mortality." Dante finished.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

Dante gestured to the pocket that his wands were concealed in. "That's part of the reason why I bought a second wand when you got your first. Learning to defend myself as effectively as I can is how I confront my mortality. How you face it is up to you."

"Megan's said that you're pretty good in a duel, Dante." Roger said, trying for a less serious topic.

"I'm reasonably skilled." He said, earning an eye roll from his girlfriend.

"I know you think better of yourself than that, Dante." She reprimanded.

"You wound me! I am a shining beacon of modesty, Professor Lockhart took lessons from _me_ about humility. I am beyond humble."

" 'Shining beacon of modesty…' " Hermione echoed. "Can't say that I see that."

"How's this, then? Megan, I expect that you'll be better in Potions than I will ever be."

"Why do you say that?" Megan asked. "Snape always snarks about all of my potions."

"Well given that he's personally asked me to convince you to go back to school, along with how he's described you to me, I think you're his favorite student."

"Why would I be his favorite?"

"Dunno, I can't see what he sees in you." Dante said grinning, to Roger's startled chuckle.

Hermione swatted his arm. "Prat!" She hissed.

"I'm good in Potions." She mumbled.

"We may call upon your services, future Potions Mistress." Dante said. "The book that Harry gave me talks about how to become an Animagus and it requires a particularly complicated potion."

"How much time do you think I'll have?" Megan asked.

"I'm not asking you to brew the potion as soon as we get back, it may be a couple years before I try to become an Animagus."

"What's an Animagus?" Roger cut in.

"An Animagus is a witch or wizard that can transform into an animal at will. The Transfiguration professor is a cat Animagus."

"So they can just switch between any animal and their… human selves?"

"Animagi can only turn into their specific animal." Dante said. "Professor McGonagall can only turn into a cat that has markings around her eyes that look like her glasses."

"And why would you want to do it? What animal would you even turn into?"

"One: Because it's cool" Dante said, to Roger's nodding in agreement. "Two: I don't know yet. There's two ways to find out, one of them is a potion that will require someone who really knows what they're doing, the other is a charm called the Patronus. When you get really good at it, it takes the form of an animal. Nine times out of ten, that form is the same as your Animagus form."

"Okay, but what if the animal is something, I don't know, uninteresting? Like a mouse?"

"Then looks like you can turn into a mouse." Dante shrugged. "It'd be a shame for it to be something like that, but at that point, you've sort of committed."

"I think I'll try to learn the Patronus to figure out what I'd be before trying the potion. I think that would have a lot less time investment in it." Hermione said.

"Agreed." Dante nodded.

"Well we've got plenty of time to become Animagi before we graduate." Hermione said. "I can't see why we wouldn't be able to before then, anyway."

"I look forward to it." Dante said, and turned to Roger. "I look forward to showing off whatever beautiful majestic animal I can become. Oh, why would you want to do it, indeed."


	20. Second Summer Part 2

The teens spent quite a lot of their time swimming and hiking around Hocking Hills. Dante tried free rock climbing on a small cliff, much to Hermione's chagrin. After only a few minutes, he managed to scale the forty foot rock face. After failing to convince her to try climbing it herself, they made their way back to the cabin as it was quite late. During the trip, he had shared a bedroom in their cabin with Roger and Hermione with Megan.

"Why do you want to go back so bad?" Roger asked on their second night.

"I love it there." Dante shrugged.

"Megan said that you were strangled at the end of last year, though."

"How much do you know about that story?"

"Just that a professor tried to kill you."

"There was this really valuable stone, the Philosopher's Stone, that could transform any metal into pure gold and produce the elixir of life. A powerful dark wizard wanted to steal the Stone, that was secured in the castle. Throughout the year, we were getting the feeling that one of the professors was trying to steal the Stone for this wizard. We thought it was Professor Snape, but it was actually Professor Quirrell. Quirrell had this wizard possessing him, so I really don't know how much he was actually responsible for. Finally we followed him to try to steal the Stone before he could and when we confronted him, he was ordered to kill us. He went for me first, and got his hands around my throat before I could cast any spells."

"How long did he have you strangled?"

"I'm going to give you the same answer I gave Mr. Granger: D'you know, I didn't check my watch. Minutes would be my guess. I started out actively trying to get his hands off, then I was spasming, then twitching, then completely still. Just after I went limp, Harry managed to make him let go and I passed out once I caught my breath."

"And now there was a snake that could kill you by making _eye contact_ with you, and you still want to go back?"

"Well if I go back, I can help my friends deal with whatever the threat of the year is. Had my friends been a little less thick, nobody else would have been hurt last year after Hermione and I."

"And you're talking about how long it took them to notice that page that Hermione had?"

"Yeah. Around the time that they finally noticed it, Ron's sister, Ginny, was taken into the Chamber. If they noticed even a day earlier, Ginny wouldn't have been taken into the Chamber, Lockhart probably wouldn't have gone down there to be killed, and the Basilisk would have been dealt with by adults. Now, how would they figure out who the human culprit was? I don't know. Hermione and I hadn't figured that much out; though while I was petrified, I had concluded that the human culprit was someone who heard Hermione and I say that we were going to the library. Ginny happened to be sitting nearby, but I didn't suspect her. Nobody seemed likely."

"So you and your friends are like… investigators in the school?"

Dante grinned. "Hagrid says we meddle in things that ought not to be meddled with."

"And that's how you end up in the middle of whatever is going on. I still don't really understand why you would want to go back into that sort of thing."

"There's a reason why I was sorted into Gryffindor and Megan was sorted into Ravenclaw. We're both really clever, but she is _much_ more sensible than I am. Sure, she jumped down a slimy hole to go after a snake that could kill by looking you in the eye. Bear in mind that time was of the essence at the moment. They didn't have the time to go get another adult that wouldn't run away. An adult that would be prepared at that exact moment to go down into the Chamber of Secrets to kill a Basilisk. The only option was to go there by themselves, same with us last year trying to stop the Stone from being stolen. We were out of options. Megan isn't likely to go along with us anymore and that's fine with me. If she wants to be safer than we are, more power to her."

"So because you're apparently brave, you have to go back to almost die again?"

"I want to go back because all my friends are there, I love learning about magic, and again, I can help deal with whatever is going to be a problem this year."

"Yeah." Roger scoffed. "You sure were a great help when you were, what was it? Petrified? You were a great help when you were strangled to death, too, weren't you?"

"Valid points, but I was helpful right up to the point of being petrified. Even after, I managed to get vital information to the others. As for being strangled, I distracted Quirrell, I suppose. With both his hands on my neck, Harry was able to really hurt him."

"And what noble sacrifice will you perform this year, Dante?" He asked derisively.

"Roger…" Dante sighed. "If you ever get put into a dangerous situation, you might understand what goes through my head. You know, Megan tackled my friend, Ron, out of the way of that cave-in. She could have potentially been crushed by the rubble, but she made a snap decision to try to save him. There isn't much thinking that goes on in those situations. You either act or you don't."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better about her going to that school?" Roger asked desperately. "She nearly died three times, giant spiders, tunnel collapse, Basilisk! And that was all in, what? A day and a half?"

"It usually comes all at once." Dante shrugged. "Most of my near death experiences first-year were all within hours of each other. If it was dangerous for the entire year, I might not want to go back. The stress from that would be a bit much. But no, what happens is I go somewhere that I shouldn't be and that's where the mortal peril is."

"So if Megan doesn't tag along next year, she'll be safe?"

"I would say so, yeah."

"Fine. You can tell her to stay away from you. I don't want to be the boyfriend that tells her to avoid her family."

"I doubt that I'll need to tell her to avoid me to be perfectly honest, given how upset she was by everything that happened."

Roger nodded. "You've got a point, there."

The week went on with loads of hiking and fishing, leaving Dante and Hermione quite satisfied with their vacation. They drafted a letter to send to Professor McGonagall and Hermione promised to send it once she got home. On the last night, the four teenagers agreed in secret to switch rooms to sleep with their significant others.

* * *

**Content Warning: Mild Sexual Activity**

* * *

As the night wore on, and the cabin grew quieter, Hermione stealthily walked into Dante and Roger's room and Roger switched into her room. As Hermione walked in, Dante could see her practically glowing with happiness at their fortune. She was wearing a simple nightie that clung to her figure enticingly, helped by the sway of her hips as she strode towards his bed. He scooted over to the side to allow her access and she slipped under the covers with him, still smiling serenely.

"Hey." She breathed.

"Hey, yourself."

"I'll miss you. It'll be more than six weeks!"

Dante nodded and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "I, for one, will be pining away at your absence."

She swatted him on the chest playfully. "Prat." She said before pulling him closer to kiss him passionately. "I love you."

"And I, you."

She lay facing him and placed her hand on the side of his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. Dante could see her eyes scanning over his face, as if she were memorizing every detail of it. After admiring her eyes for a while, he pulled her closer again so he could kiss her again, his hand in the small of her back. Her fingers threaded through his hair and his hand began to roam over her back, tracing her side, making her moan and purr softly.

She broke away from the kiss, panting slightly and with a soft blush. She put her forehead against his and whispered, "I think I'm ready to go a little further."

"If you're sure." Dante nodded.

She took his hand and put it on her waist, her blush deepening. She tugged at the edge of her nightie and slipped his hand underneath the silky fabric onto the skin of her side. Dante looked up into her eyes and she gave a slight nod before attacking his mouth with hers. With the new contact with her skin, Dante's hand roamed eagerly, making her mewl into his mouth, purring all the while.

"You can touch them, Dante." She breathed.

His hand drifted further upward until his fingers brushed against a soft lump, making both teen's breath hitch in excitement. '_Gryffindors charge, Monte._' He thought to himself and he continued north, cupping the soft flesh in his hand. Hermione's purring grew louder and she was breathing more heavily, as was he. Under his fingers, he felt a slightly harder nub that made her shiver whenever he brushed against it.

Hermione opened her eyes and smiled wickedly before pushing him gently away to roll on top, straddling him. She gave him a quick kiss before sitting upright, grasping the hem of her nightie and pulling it up and over her head. Dante gasped at the sight of his girlfriend topless, almost glowing in the moonlight. In his mind, nothing could be more beautiful than the girl that he loved with all his heart. Her breasts weren't very big, it was true, but he was finding it hard to tear his gaze away from the soft mounds, each adorned with a small pink nipple, quickly growing stiff in the cool air.

Sensing his thoughts, she leaned back down onto him and kissed him for all she was worth, their tongues dancing together as their hands explored each other's bodies. Dante gasped as he felt her hand slide up his thigh, getting closer to the evidence of his arousal. Hermione silently asked for permission before slipping her fingers under the waistband of his sleep pants. Following suit, Dante's fingers brushed against a wet crease between her legs, making the girl shudder on top of him. She regained control of herself and pushed her hand deeper in his pants, grasping his penis gently. It was his turn to shudder at the intimate touch. He shimmied out of his trousers to give her better access, making her eyes widen at the sight of her naked boyfriend for the first time.

"I don't want to go all the way tonight." She whispered, making him nod. Her hand closed around him once more and she began to stroke softy. "But I don't want to leave you like this." She kissed him hungrily as her hand pumped him up and down. He responded by sliding his fingers between her folds, coating them in her arousal and making her mewl into his mouth. As his ministrations grew more confident, so too did Hermione's and soon he broke away from the kiss gasping.

"It's okay, love." She panted. "Let it go." At her command, he released globs of hot liquid onto his chest and her hand. He could feel her walls quivering around his fingers before she, too climaxed with a gasp. She collapsed on top of him, her soft breasts pressing against his chest.

"I love you, 'Mione." He said sleepily.

He felt her smile before she responded in kind. "I love you, Dante." She got up and came back with a cloth to wipe themselves off before putting her nightie back on and slipping back into bed with him, laying her head on his chest and hugging him close. They drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

* * *

**End of Content Warning**

* * *

Dante woke with a stupid grin on his face, noticing the mane of bushy hair in front of him. She was purring quietly in her sleep with a content smile of her own lighting up her features. He squeezed her closer to him in a hug, confirming to himself that last night really happened. She moaned in approval before opening her eyes sleepily.

"Morning." She yawned, covering her mouth. "How did you sleep?"

"Excellent, you?"

"Mmm I had a wonderful dream about getting intimate with a boy who I love dearly."

Dante wore a face of mock annoyance. "Who is this boy? Do I know him?"

"I think so… yes, I'm sure you've met him." She mused before kissing his cheek.

They cleaned themselves up before heading downstairs to get ready to go back home. "Hey Brian," Dante started when he got downstairs. His uncle looked up and indicated for him to continue. "Hermione and I wrote a letter for Professor McGonagall, asking her to come and talk to you and Justine about Megan and I returning to Hogwarts. Speaking of which, there's a form I'd appreciate if you would sign. It's a permission form to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends."

"That would help us decide if we let you go back, thanks. If we do send you two back, I don't see why I wouldn't sign that form. Did you mention a day for her to come?"

"No, that's what I was going to ask you about."

His uncle smiled at him. "I appreciate that. Well, the Saturday after next would be fine. Sometime in the afternoon."

Hermione nodded and pulled out the letter before scribbling the requested date on it. "If we go to Pittsburgh sometime between now and then, I can make more of those notebooks so you can keep in touch with her and Professor Flitwick." Dante said. "Dinner can even be my treat, since I can get some money out of Gringotts that Harry gave me."

Brian chuckled. "You shouldn't spend all of it at once. I don't know how Gringotts bank accounts work, but the best thing to do with a load of money that comes your way is to just let it sit in the bank, collecting interest. If you get enough money, you can live off of that interest. That's what I plan on, if Justine and I hit the lottery."

"Hmm… I guess you're right. Well don't say I didn't offer."

Brian smiled again but grew serious. "Hermione, would you mind leaving Dante and I to talk for a minute? I just need to have a man to man conversation with him."

Hermione looked between Dante and Brian and shrugged. "Of course." Before heading outside to talk to Megan and Roger.

"I've been thinking a lot about what you say happened at school these past two years."

"Naturally."

"And I want you to, and please don't take this the wrong way, Dante, get help."

"You mean talk to a psychiatrist?"

"Yeah."

"In the last couple of weeks last year, those of us who were petrified talked to a Mind Healer, they're basically the same thing but with a little magic involved."

"Has Megan talked to this Mind Healer?"

"I didn't see much of her before coming back. I told her that she should, but I don't think she went."

"Can you talk to this Healer when you go back?"

"I don't see why not. If I ask to speak with one, they're not likely to say no."

Brian seemed to relax a bit and sighed. "That's why Megan's so much more disturbed than you, isn't it?"

Dante nodded. "I think so. She also fought the Basilisk, not me."

"She's seemed more normal this week. Roger is probably helping her through it all." Brian sighed heavily again. "I've all but decided to let you go back, mostly because you will hate me for the rest of our lives if we keep you away from Hermione, even though I don't understand how your… relationship works with her."

"How do you mean?"

"I know you two can read each other's minds and feelings, I just don't understand how that would play out in a relationship. But neither of you asked for it, and you two seem to be good together, even if you are young. Don't get her pregnant because you can't keep it in your pants."

Dante blushed like mad. "Of course not. We haven't even done anything."

"Really?" He smirked. "That's strange, I thought I heard something last night."

Dante paled. "We didn't… we…"

"Just be safe. At least you know she's never going to cheat on you, and vice versa." Brian said, to Dante's nod. "I don't need to know details about what you two get up to. You two don't need to be having children before you graduate, or even turn twenty."

"I'd like to be able to support them before I take that step."

"Good man. Alright, we don't need to keep Hermione out of this anymore."

"She's coming back." Dante said after sending a silent message to her.

Brian laughed. "That's a pretty useful talent you two have. I'd probably use it to cheat on tests. How do I know you don't do the same?"

"You insult my honor!" Dante exclaimed, feigning hurt. "Calling my integrity into question in such a flagrant manner."

"You suggested that we cheat on tests with the telepathy, didn't you?" Hermione asked as she saw Dante's display. "If I ever tried to cheat using Dante's memories, I would be quite out of luck. His notes are simply useless!"

"To you, they are."

"Please explain to me how a caricature of the two of us pointing wands at each other is an example of proper Transfiguration notes."

"I would have to look at the drawing in question." Dante said to her scoff.

"He '_doodles!_' " Hermione said to his uncle exasperatedly. "Apparently he can remember everything that was said when he drew whatever picture."

"You're just jealous that my mind is a better sponge than yours." Dante quipped.

"I thought Hermione had better grades." Brian said, confused.

"Ah, but consider that she studies and I don't. I'm second in our year, and I outperform her in Transfiguration, if only slightly."

"You're rubbish in Potions." Hermione scolded.

"Rubbish!" Dante retorted. "I'm still just behind you there, with Harry a bit behind me. You, me, and Harry are the top three there, in that order."

"I might keep you away from Hogwarts, Dante, just to stop you from saying British things."

Dante looked horrified at his uncle. "You wouldn't dare!" He gasped to Brian's shrug.

The following weekend proved to be eventful. Dante's family went on another trip to Pittsburgh, stopping at the wizarding mall in the Strip District. Dante picked up a couple more notebooks and surreptitiously charmed them, labeling them for Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. Brian and Justine thought it would be a good idea to stop at Gringotts, though not to withdraw any money, but to learn about their financial policies.

"Excuse me, sir." Brian said to get the teller's attention.

"Are you here for a withdrawal?" The goblin growled.

"No, actually. We're here because my niece and nephew have each been given money and vaults here. We were hoping to learn about your financial policies so we could help them budget appropriately."

The goblin leered down at Megan and Dante. "You two are the niece and nephew?"

"Yes, sir." Dante nodded.

"Hmmm, a no-maj and a wizard speaking respectfully to a goblin." The goblin muttered. "Hold out your right hand, Miss."

Megan complied and winced as the goblin pricked her finger with a needle. "What was that for?"

"Identification and making a vault key for you, Miss…" The goblin grinned wickedly before peering at a parchment. "Monte. Your turn, Mister. It would seem that you two have reactivated two accounts that have laid dormant for a few decades." The goblin said and gestured for Dante's hand. "If you would give me a moment, I can arrange a meeting with an account manager that can answer all of your questions." The goblin said before stepping down from his booth and walking away.

"Good afternoon, Miss and Mister Monte, I am Sharpnose Bloodfist. I manage the Buracchio and Amato accounts, among others, of which you have claimed access to. Follow me to my office, we can discuss any questions you may have there."

They followed the creature through a series of hallways before entering an opulent office. A coffee table stood in front of a large plush couch, set with tea and biscuits. "Now, as children raised by no-maj's, you two probably didn't expect to be inheriting any money. Am I correct?"

"Nail on the head." Megan smiled.

"Well we can give you a quick rundown, Miss."

"Please call me Megan, if that's alright. If you like, I can call you Sharpnose."

"And me Dante, please."

The goblin smiled. "I must say, I'm looking forward to working with you two, if this is how you present yourselves. Not many treat us goblins with the respect we deserve. It doesn't surprise me, of course. We have noticed that muggleborn witches and wizards tend to be more kind to us."

"We haven't been brought up disliking goblins." Dante said. "And I don't see why anyone would antagonize the people looking after _everyone's_ money."

"Yes, I expect that's the reason. Now, of course you may call me Sharpnose and I can call you by your given names. Well there are a few unfortunate things to mention about your estate, financially. Some no-maj legislation has severely damaged your finances a few decades ago. I believe the laws were called 'RICO.' "

"The relatives that they're inheriting from were in the Mob." Brian said, making the connection.

"You're kidding!" Justin gasped. "The Mob had wizards in it?"

"The Mob was a very powerful organization." Sharpnose said simply. "Power attracts power. Wizards were very popular in these families because they were very capable of making enemies disappear. Eventually, however, the wizards in the Buracchio and Amato families died off, being replaced by squibs. The last Amato was here in 1965, and the last Buracchio in 1959. You two are related to Salvatore Amato and Marco Buracchio. Salvatore Amato is your second great uncle, related through your late paternal grandfather, while Marco Buracchio is your second cousin, twice removed. He is related to you through your late maternal grandmother."

Anger washed over Dante at this revelation, but he bit his tongue to keep himself under control.

"To be frank," the goblin continued. "Your relatives were ruthless. They respected money and power. Nothing else. I believe your kind would refer to them as Dark Wizards, though they weren't nearly as interested in blood status as say He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Now would you like to go over your assets? That's the more exciting thing, I bet." He opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a manilla folder. "Let me see here, this is the value of the Amato vault." He handed over a document to Megan. "And here's the Buracchio vault." He handed a similar document to Dante.

**Gringotts Bank**

**Pittsburgh Branch**

**Buracchio Family Liquid Asset Vault**

**Account Manager: Sharpnose Bloodfist **

**Vault Created: 10/23/1848**

**Balance: 37,890/6/13**

"Thirty eight thousand?" Dante asked.

"I've got forty." Megan said. "That's just your liquid assets, right?"

Dante checked his document. "Yeah, 'Liquid Asset Vault.' "

"Very good." Sharpnose said. "Yes, you are merely looking at the coins in your vaults. In the next couple of days, the money that you two received from a Mister Harry Potter will be transferred into these vaults. Calculating the total value of your assets is difficult, there are things like family heirlooms that are especially difficult to place a value on. There's a house that you two have inherited as well, to put a price that you will be more familiar with on it, it is roughly a three hundred thousand dollar home."

"They've got a house now?" Brian asked incredulously.

"Oh yes. They're reasonably well off. I see that the house had a House Elf, though I doubt that they're still around. In that case, the houses may be in need of some maintenance before they are ready to be lived in."

"Before we get too far down this rabbit hole." Brian said. "We originally came here to learn about how Gringotts accounts work. Do accounts accrue interest?"

"Yes, of course. I understand there are different types of accounts for no-maj banks, but here there are just accounts that have one or more vaults. Monetary assets accrue interest at a rate of 3% annually, though this is subject to change depending upon the financial needs of Gringotts. You will never have to worry about the rate dropping below 1.5%, however." The goblin opened another drawer and pulled out a small packet. "Here you are, Mister Monte. This is all of the information that you would need."

After a moment or the adults looking through the packet, the goblin spoke up again. "I strongly recommend that you two hire a curse breaker to go through your properties to ensure that they're safe for you to visit. Your relatives may not have had blood status prejudices, but it would be far safer to have someone check for objects that would harm either of you or your current family."

"How much would that cost?" Dante asked.

"For you, we can charge you a hundred Galleons to get all properties and your vaults checked and secured."

"Fine with me." Megan said.

"Read over this form and sign."

They each peered over the details of the curse breaker contract and couldn't find anything that they objected to. The worst thing in the terms was that if the breaker couldn't safely break a harmful enchantment, and couldn't find someone else who could, the object would be destroyed. Dante looked up at his sister to see if she had any issues, but she just shrugged. They were handed a quill and signed the form.

After the adults discussed their financial prospects for a while, they concluded their meeting and made their way home. Before leaving, Dante and Megan each withdrew two hundred Galleons, and Gringotts provided them with magical passports that would fool muggle customs. The photos on them, unlike normal magical photos were still, though they would update automatically every year. When they got home, Dante walked up to his room and checked his notebooks to see if his friends had written him. He saw that Harry and Hermione had, at least.

'_I've got to say that your bloody gift for me has made me hate the Dursleys more. I've never had a chance to play many video games and now you've given me one. I've had to hide it, of course, but I've already spent far too much time on it. I've had to use some of the Basilisk money to buy three packages of batteries in a week!_'

Dante laughed at that and checked to see what Hermione had to say.

'_Dante, I felt you get really angry a couple of minutes ago. Is everything alright?_'

He picked up his pen and wrote back to her.

'_I went to Gringotts today to learn about how accounts work there and found out where my magic comes from. I got angry because I think this is what Dumbledore was keeping from me a few months ago._'

'_Professor Dumbledore, Dante. Perhaps I'll have to visit Gringotts to see if they can tell me where my magic comes from. Though I don't understand. Why would Professor Dumbledore keep that from you?_'

'_You're aware that I'm Italian._'

'_Are you really? You've never mentioned._'

'_Here in America, at least this part of America, every Italian is related somehow. There used to be very powerful crime organizations here, run by Italian families. The Mafia, to you._'

'_Your magical relatives weren't great people, then._'

'_It fits with what Dumbledore was telling me. He was talking about how there are some entire families with but a single caring soul. He was talking about these two families here, the Amatos and the Buracchios._'

_'I still don't understand, though. Professor Dumbledore knew you were related to the Mafia somehow and was concerned about it? Why should he care?_'

'_I need to take some time to think about it all and when school starts, I'm going to talk to him about it._'

'_Try not to jump to any conclusions, Dante. I don't know why Professor Dumbledore felt the need to keep something like this from you, but I am sure that he has a good reason._'

'_In his defense, he said that he would tell me when he felt I was ready to hear it._'

'_There you go. I'm guessing he just thought you wouldn't appreciate hearing that your magical relatives were criminals._'

'_I promise that I won't say anything out of line._'

Dante wasn't allowed to be in the room when Professor McGonagall and his aunt and uncle talked about Hogwarts, they wanted to keep this conversation between adults. When they were allowed in, Dante noticed a hollow look on their faces, similar to how Megan looked after going to the Chamber of Secrets.

"Megan, Dante, we've come to a decision." Brian said uncomfortably. "You two will go back this year."

"Okay." Megan said.

Dante pulled out two of the latest notebooks and handed them to Professor McGonagall. "They asked me to make those before the end of term so they could keep in touch with you and Professor Flitwick."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows at the "before the end of term" comment, but didn't voice her suspicions. "I shall pass this one over to Professor Flitwick, then. Very well, Dante, Megan, Mister and Missus Monte, good day." She vanished with a 'pop' and left the adults looking uncomfortable.

"What'd she say?" Megan asked.

"Don't worry about it." Brian grumbled. "I just wish she mentioned when she came over the first time. You two won't have to worry about us taking you out of school at least until you pass your OWLs. Dante… you and your friends like investigating things in the school… please don't this year. It nearly got you killed several times already and this time we have the benefit of knowing the danger this year. A man broke out of wizard prison a week ago, apparently they think he'll be heading towards the school." Brian's face went from exasperation to hard and stern. "Do. Not. Go. Looking. For. Him." He emphasized each word by slamming his fist down on the table.

"What did she say his name was, Bri? Serious?" Justine asked.

"Serious Black." He said. "Murdered thirteen people and spent the last twelve years in that wizard prison, whatever the place was called. Sounded like Alcatraz."

"Azkaban?" Dante asked.

"That's it."

"I won't go looking for him." Dante said, but Brian and Justine glared at him. "I swear I won't go looking for him."

"Don't you dare. Dante… I've already lost my brother. Don't make me lose you, too." Brian growled. "McGonagall told us that your Ministry has stationed Azkaban guards at every entrance to school grounds. _They_ will find Serious Black. Not you. Just do your school work and stay away from trouble."

"Don't be a self sacrificing idiot, please." Justine begged. "You've also got Hermione to think about. Anything happens to you, it happens to her."

"I will behave exactly as I did last year. I didn't go anywhere I wasn't supposed to be. The Basilisk was sent after me, I didn't go looking for it. I went looking for a teacher."

"Fine. Suppose you find a lead for Serious Black's location. Tell someone. Do not follow up on it yourself." Justine turned to Megan. "And you, Megan, are going to talk to a Mind Healer."

Megan scowled. "What for? I'm fine!"

"No you are not!" Justine said angrily. "All you do when Roger isn't around is brood and stare off into space. You don't talk to us anymore. You need to talk to someone about it."

"I'm fine." Megan bit out. "I'm not crazy. I don't need to talk to a shrink."

Dante turned to his sister. "The fact that it bothers you, everything you saw last month, means that you aren't crazy. With everything that happened to me first-year, I was in shock for so long that I never showed anyone here how much I was bothered. That Mind Healer that I talked to after I was restored really helped me."

Brian and Justine smiled gratefully at Dante. "He's right, Megan. About how being disturbed is what makes you normal. I thought I noticed you were a bit different after coming home, Dante, but you've always been quiet. Megan, you need to talk to someone because we can see that it's bothering you. I'm glad what you've been through bothers you. I can't describe how happy that makes me. I don't want to pull this card, but I can't ignore it." Brian took a deep breath. "Do you think your parents would want you to get psychological help?"

Tears streaked down Megan's face as she nodded. "They would."

Brian grimaced but continued. "Your life, Megan, has not been great. Especially the past year. We want you to be a normal teenager, or at least a normal teenage witch."

Megan gave a small smile at the correction. "Fine."

The adults sighed with relief and turned back to Dante. "Let's talk about something less serious. Has Hermione told you what you're going to be doing when you visit her?"

"The Grangers were going to Romania, actually."

"Why there?" Megan asked.

"Because I speak the language and I've been teaching Hermione to speak it, draga mea soră."

"Do her parents speak it?" Brian asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. I think they want to see if we can guide them around, though most of Europe has English as a second language. We shouldn't have too much trouble finding our way around."

"Don't spend all of your money there." Justine said. "You still need to buy your new books. Speaking of, McGonagall left these for you two." She handed each teen a piece of parchment with their school supplies for the year on it.

"I bet you'll catch up to third-year in a couple of months, Megan. You'll probably be taken on a trip to London once you decide on your electives so you can get books for whatever you want."

"What electives did you say were available third year?"

"Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Muggle Studies. Sixth-year Apparition is technically an elective, and you can go into Alchemy if you want sixth-year as well."

"I'll probably take Ancient Runes… don't know what else, though."

"Well you have up to when you finish second-year stuff."

"Where in Romania are you going?" Justine asked.

"Well I'm betting that we're going to Bucharest, but Hermione mentioned that we'd be going to a beach, so that'll probably be on the Black Sea."

"Oh, why go to the Mediterranean when you can go to the Black Sea?" Megan scoffed.

"Romania doesn't have Mediterranean shores. There's just a little part of their border on the Black."

"I'm just saying there are probably better places to go in Europe than Romania."

"I'll be sure to let you know how brilliant Romania is when I see you in London." Dante said with an air of defiance.

The weeks passed slowly for Dante, who was growing steadily more excited about leaving for Europe. Finally, with a whistle and a blue flash, he found himself facing the Granger's house in Epsom. A girlish shriek made him grin as he was nearly tackled to the ground by Hermione. "Hey." He smirked.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and grinned wickedly. "Hey. Are you excited to go to Romania?"

Dante wore a mask of neutrality. "Not at all."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "No? I suppose we could do something else if it pleases you."

"Oh I wouldn't want to be a burden." Dante said, struggling to maintain his stony expression.

"Dante, dear, welcome back!" Mrs. Granger called.

"Thanks for having me over, Mrs. Granger."

"Nonsense, lad." Mr. Granger said. "Has Hermione told you where in Romania we're going?"

Dante gave a mock glare to Hermione. "She's neglected to mention that much." He said to her sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well, we're going to Bucharest first, then we're going to a city called... er, what was it called, Dani?"

"Constanţa." Mrs. Granger supplied.

"Constanza to relax on the beaches of the Black Sea. You two are going to be our navigators."

"How are we getting there?"

"Trains to get there, and planes to get back. No sense driving that far from the station in France. If you're ready, lad, we can head to the station, we've got a long ride to go."

After nearly two days of riding trains, they arrived in the capital city of Romania. The sprawling city intimidated them at first, but after looking at some maps for tourists, they made their way to the hotel that the Grangers booked, falling asleep almost immediately. They spent the evening and following morning sightseeing around the city before boarding another train to Constanţa. As they approached the city, they could smell the salty air growing more pungent.

"Let's get you some swimwear first, Dante." Hermione said.

"I've got trunks."

"That's not what people wear here, look!" She pointed at a group of men wearing speedos.

"Hermione, I am _not_ wearing a bikini."

"That's not a bikini." She said indignantly.

"No, you're right. That's a banana hammock." He said to Mr. Granger's snort.

"Banana… hammock?" Hermione asked, confused. "Oh!" She suddenly understood the nickname and blushed a deep red. "Well think of the excellent tan you'll get. You won't have those pasty white thighs."

"How do you know how pasty his thighs are, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked with a grin.

"Well we went swimming on his birthday, you see." She muttered quietly.

'_I'll do it just this once for you._' Dante silently told Hermione.

'_I'll buy it. I have some Euros anyway. All you have is Galleons._'

After a brief trip to a clothing store, Dante walked out as the proud owner of a bright yellow speedo. It was, he had to admit, more comfortable than he thought it would be, but he still felt a bit uneasy about showing so much skin. The water of the sea was pleasantly warm, and he was enjoying splashing around in the salty water immensely. Occasionally the fabric of his speedo would get bunched up between his leg and his package, forcing him to pick out his front wedgie.

Mr. Granger noticed his predicament and muttered in his ear. "Better stop picking at the banana hammock, or the banana might fall out."

Never again, Dante concluded. Never wearing one of these things again.


	21. Year 3 Chapter 1

The flights to London were very nice, on them Dante discovered a new favorite muggle treat on them: the Stroopwafel, courtesy of United Airlines (definitely not sponsored). He got disdainful looks from the Grangers as he ate them, but their concern for his dental health was outweighed by the caramelly goodness.

They made their way to the Leaky Cauldron and saw several familiar faces in the pub. "Hermione! Dante!" A voice said cheerfully.

"Hello, Ron!" Hermione beamed. "Fred, George!"

"Honestly, Hermione, you've known us for two years and you can't tell us apart. I'm Fred."

"No, George, remember? I'm Fred today."

"Are you sure?"

"It's Saturday. That means I'm Fred."

"Bloody hell, you're right. I am George. My bad, Hermione." The George Apparent said to Hermione's eye roll.

"Do you two rehearse all of that or does it just come naturally?" Dante asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." The twins said in a sing song voice.

"I would, actually."

"Not that the twinspeak isn't interesting," Hermione cut in, "But all of you look rather darker than I remember you. Did you go somewhere?"

Ron looked simultaneously sheepish and happy. "Dad won the lottery at work."

"That's brilliant!" Hermione and Dante said together, and Ron grinned.

"We ended up using a lot of the money to go visit Bill in Egypt." He pulled out a clipping from the Daily Prophet that showed the Weasley's grinning and waving at the camera in front of a pyramid. "Sorry that I haven't been writing. The summer's been busy and I… well… I've never been one to enjoy writing, have I?"

"Don't worry about it." Dante said. "Anyone else we know here?"

"Harry's here somewhere. You won't believe what happened to get him here. He blew up his aunt!" Ron sniggered.

"Pardon?" Hermione asked blankly.

"He's inflated her like a bloody balloon!" Ron laughed heartily to Dante's suppressed chuckling.

"Is he okay?" Hermione asked.

"He's fine, talked to the Minister, apparently. Fudge says he's not in trouble for it, accidental magic."

"Well that's a relief." Hermione said breathlessly. "But why would he blow her up?"

"Ask him yourself." Ron shrugged. "He doesn't seem too happy about it."

"I should hope not!" Hermione said a little shrilly, making Dante wince. "He's already got an official warning for underage magic because of Dobby!"

"Anyway, the Minister's set him up with a room here until school starts so he hasn't gone back to his aunt and uncle's house." Ron said, cutting off her rant.

"So if your dad won the lottery at work," Dante began. "And you got that Basilisk money, too, did you get your own wand?"

He grinned excitedly. "Yeah! That was one of the first things we did when dad got the news." He pulled out a new looking wand. "Hornbeam and Unicorn Hair. 12 inches."

"Very nice." Dante said approvingly before he was tapped on the shoulder from behind.

"When did you two get here?" Their bespectacled friend asked, smiling shyly.

"Minutes ago." Hermione said after seizing Harry in a hug. "You?"

"About a week. I've already got my school shopping done. You two aren't going to like the books for Care of Magical Creatures." Harry said, shuddering at the thought of the book.

"Why not?" She asked, frowning.

"They bite."

"Don't be ridiculous." Hermione said dismissively, "The knowledge contained within a book couldn't possibly harm you."

"Have you read the title?" Harry asked.

Dante pulled out his shopping list to see the books on it. " '_The Monster Book of Monsters._' They don't happen to mean 'Monster' as in 'large,' do they?"

Harry shook his head. "I've used a belt to tie mine up. Hagrid sent it to me over the summer, saying it'd be useful. Didn't believe him until I got the list from McGonagall. Who would assign a biting book?"

"Hagrid." Dante answered immediately.

"Hagrid isn't a teacher, though." Hermione corrected. "We've got Professor Kettleburn for Care of Magical Creatures."

"What's left of him." The twins said.

"Yes, I've heard he's rather lax with his own safety." Hermione groused.

"So how did you get a meeting with the Minister?" Dante asked.

"I sort of… ran into him here." Harry said sheepishly. "After I blew up Aunt Marge, I ran away."

"With a killer on the loose, Harry? Oh you're going to be the death of me!" Hermione moaned.

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen, Hermione, my home life isn't exactly pleasant. After I blew up Aunt Marge, I knew there was no way I could survive there anymore so I left."

"I'm sorry." Hermione began. "I just care about you and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I know, but the Minister picked me up and apparently smoothed things over with the Dursleys so we're fine."

"Did he just find you wandering the streets?" Hermione asked.

"Not exactly. On my way, I accidentally hailed the Knight Bus. Took it here, Fudge was waiting for me here."

"Night Bus?" Dante asked. "What's that?"

" 'Emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard.' " Harry said. "According to the conductor."

"I've never heard of it." Hermione said with a frown. "What's it like?"

"You two have seen those double decker busses in London? This one is a triple decker and it's horrible. Shooting off way too fast and screeching to a halt in an instant wherever it goes. Don't ride one if you can help it."

"I suppose it is for emergency transport." Dante said, scratching his chin.

They spent the day chatting with the Weasleys and collecting their school things. Dante was quite happy to find that he needed fitting for a new set of robes again, definitive proof in his mind that he was getting taller. After they had everything they needed, Hermione insisted on visiting the Magical Menagerie.

"Harry has Hedwig, and Ron has Scabbers. I'd love to have an owl of my own."

When she walked in, it looked as though she did have every intention of purchasing an owl; but when a giant orange ball of fuzz dropped onto the counter to chase Scabbers, that threw a spanner in the works. The witch who owned the store eventually captured the cat and stuffed it roughly into a cage where it couldn't bother anyone. As she and Hermione talked about owls, Hermione kept glancing sadly at the cat. The cat, for his part, gave her pitiful looks whenever she did.

"Sorry, but is the cat for sale?" She asked tentatively.

"Oh, Crookshanks? You don't want him, dearie." The witch said dismissively. "Really, he's bowlegged and half-kneazle. He'll wreck your place."

Dante thought these were very sensible reasons why Hermione shouldn't get the cat, but she didn't care. After an exchange of four Galleons, Hermione was clutching the, in his mind anyway, hideous cat to her chest and positively glowing. With this, she concluded the shopping trip. A few goodbyes to their friends and they were back in Epsom in no time.

The opportunity for Dante and Hermione to explore the physical side of their relationship didn't present itself in that time, though if he was being honest with himself, he was glad to not have the opportunity to be caught by her parents.

A quick drive to King's Cross on Monday morning and some fierce hugs from the Grangers, and the two of them were boarding the Hogwarts Express. Crookshanks was locked in a carrier, strapped to Hermione's trunk.

"There you are, Dante!" A female voice said.

"Hey, Megan." Dante and Hermione said.

"How was Romania?"

"Oh the place was simply beautiful!" Hermione beamed. "And the Sea was excellent! All of the cathedrals were magnificent!"

"The sea wasn't as salty as I was expecting." Dante commented.

"You're not meant to drink the water!" Hermione scolded.

"I didn't. I tasted it. After being in the Atlantic and the Black Sea, I can confirm that the Atlantic is saltier."

They quickly caught sight of Harry and Ron ahead in the aisle and dragged their trunks quickly to catch up.

"Alright, Hermione? Dante?" Ron said.

"Fine." Dante said. "See any open compartments yet?"

"This one may be it." Hermione said when they reached the end of their car. The compartment was empty aside from a shabbily dressed wizard. "I expect everywhere else is full. Come on."

"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron asked.

"Professor R. J. Lupin." Hermione said immediately, before sniffing and frowning.

"Do you know everything? How is it she knows everything?" Ron asked bitingly.

"It's on his trunk, Ronald." She retorted icily.

"Oh." Ron said, deflated.

"Do you reckon he's really asleep?" Harry asked.

"Looks like it." Dante confirmed.

"I've got to tell you something." Harry said, shutting the door. When he sat down, he looked over to Ron. "Your dad had a word with me before we came to the platform, Ron. I'm the reason why Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban."

The three other teens spluttered. "What?" They all asked as quietly as their shock would allow.

"Apparently he was a big supporter of Voldemort…" Hermione and Ron cringed at the name, "and just before he escaped, they heard him muttering in his sleep. 'He's at Hogwarts.' Over and over again."

"So let me get this straight." Ron said. "Sirius Black's escaped from Azkaban to come after you?"

"Yeah."

"They'll catch Black, won't they?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Everyone's looking for him."

"They've got the Azkaban guards stationed at the entrances to the grounds of the school." Dante said.

"How d'you know that?" Ron asked.

"When McGonagall came over to talk to my aunt and uncle, she mentioned that." He shrugged. "Probably should have made the connection that Sirius would be coming to Hogwarts because of you, Harry, but that's par for the course now, isn't it?"

Harry chuckled darkly. "I suppose."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about." A gravelly voice said. All of their heads whipped around to see Professor Lupin shifting the cloak away from his sickly gray face. "Sorry for interrupting. Professor Lupin, at your service."

"I apologize for waking you, Professor." Hermione said shyly.

"Not to worry, Miss Granger."

"How do you know who she is?" Ron asked.

"Well sitting right across from her is Mr. Potter and yourself, Mr. Weasley." He said simply. "And how could I miss the student who defeated a Professor in a duel last year, Mr. Monte? Yes, I'm aware of who the four of you are; your exploits in the castle are hardly secrets." He uncurled himself and stretched languidly. "Mr. Potter, you should have nothing to worry about with Sirius Black. The entire country's authorities are searching for him, and they know where he is trying to go. Even the muggle-"

"The muggles are looking for him, too." Harry cut him off. "I saw him on the telly."

Professor Lupin smiled. "You see? With all of Britain, magical and non-magical, looking for him, he'll be caught before you know it." He yawned widely and excused himself to use the restroom.

"Do you think he's the new Defense Professor?" Ron asked.

"Probably." Dante agreed. "I don't know any other spots available."

"He looks like one good hex would finish him off." Ron said disapprovingly.

"Looks can be deceiving." Harry said with a cheeky grin at Hermione, who didn't dignify that with a response.

"Maybe he's got the flu or something." Dante reasoned.

"My grandparents apparently died of Dragon Pox, maybe he has something like that." Harry mused.

"He shouldn't be here if he has Dragon Pox!" Ron said, aghast. "He'd infect the whole school in an hour!"

"Alright, then it's not Dragon Pox." Harry shrugged.

"Did any of you smell anything off about him?" Hermione asked.

"No?" Harry, Ron, and Dante said together.

"I think I might have just smelled his dog on him or something."

"Right, you can probably smell dogs more easily now, can't you?" Dante asked, to her nodding in confirmation.

"The Polyjuice is still affecting you?" Harry asked.

"Only slightly. There's nothing outward about me that says I've had the Polyjuice mishap… except for the purring…" Ron sniggered at that. "But the other things that it changed, only I would ever be able to notice."

"Like your senses." Dante said.

"It's probably just his dog that I smell." She said to herself more than the others.

The door opened, and instead of Lupin coming back in, it was Daphne. "Hey guys." She smiled before sitting down next to Ron. "How was your holiday?"

"Fine." Harry said noncommittally.

"Excellent, for once." Ron said eagerly. "Went to see my brother in Egypt!"

"Oh that's great!" She gushed. "I've never been outside the country. Well, you know what I mean. Wales and Scotland don't count."

The other three tuned out Ron and Daphne's conversation, they'd already heard him talking about his trip over and over again. Instead, they talked about the new classes that they would be taking this year, even after Lupin returned.

"You're excited for the new year, then?" He asked, when he picked up on their topic.

"Definitely." Dante grinned. "I'd like to see if we get a proper Defense Professor."

Lupin smiled. "Yes, your last two haven't been particularly good, have they?" He sighed and added in an undertone, "God rest their souls."

"I would have been happy for them to just be sacked, myself." Harry said.

"Quite." Lupin nodded gravely. The conversation for the next few hours was rather stilted from here, leading to Dante and Hermione pulling out their new books to start reading. Dante was working through his _Standard Book of Spells: Grade Three _by Miranda Goshawk.

The trolley came and with it their usual purchases of snacks to hold them over until the start of term feast. Not long after tucking into his sandwich, Professor Lupin nodded off again. By all accounts, this was going to be an ordinary journey to school. Unfortunately, normal doesn't happen around Harry Potter. A sound and a slight jolt broke Dante's concentration on his book. The train's brakes were squealing and they were slowing ever so gradually.

"Brilliant!" Ron said. "Can't wait to get in the castle."

"We can't be there yet." Hermione said, looking at her watch. Dante looked at his, 6:33. They weren't meant to get to school for another hour and a half.

The train slowed to a stop and Ron moved over to the window. "Maybe we've broken down?" Harry offered.

"There's something moving out there!" Ron whispered harshly, before the lights flickered. "I think someone's coming aboard."

"Anyone else feel like the AC got turned up too high?" Dante asked nervously.

Ron and Daphne stared at each other and mouthed, "AC?"

"It _has_ gotten oddly chilly." Hermione said, rubbing her arms to warm up.

"You all wait here." Lupin grumbled before drawing his wand and sweeping out of the compartment.

"It was thirty six degrees this morning! I'm shivering!" Daphne said incredulously.

'_Thirty six?_' Dante mentally asked Hermione.

'_Celcius, American. I don't know what that is in your fake temperature scale._'

The lights flickered again and went out, leaving them in the muted light of the late overcast sky. The door opened and three more people crowded in. Neville, Ginny, and Megan piled in, their faces ashen. "What's going on here?" Megan asked. "Why've we stopped?"

"Dunno. Ron reckons someone's coming aboard." Harry said, now pressing his face against the window.

"Why have you three come in here? We're getting quite crowded in here." Dante said, annoyed.

"I got scared." Neville said in a small voice.

"Naturally." Dante muttered.

"I just followed your sister." Ginny said.

"I figured the four of you would know what was going on more than me." Megan said.

"We literally know exactly as much as you do." Dante said as his breath began to condense into an opaque fog, and he was shivering violently. Looking around, he saw the other's breaths fogging in front of their faces as well. Ice began to deposit on the window, rendering their view outside fuzzy.

Movement from the corridor drew their attention and they all looked through the fogged glass. A dark hooded figure drifted towards the door. It lazily gestured at the knob with its hand and the door slid open. The creature drew a sickening, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck in something other than air.

A terrible fear gripped Dante, and for reasons unknown to him, he found himself thinking about his parents. The terrible day when Professor McGonagall pulled him and Hermione aside the break the news. The sinking feeling in his gut when Dumbledore told him. All those years before Hogwarts without friends wormed their way into his mind. The feeling of Quirrell's hands on his throat. The icy chill of being petrified. Tears streamed down his face as the horrors of his past began to haunt him. The creature was bent over Harry, taking deep rattling breaths. Harry looked to be having some sort of seizure, his limbs were rigid and shaking.

"Expecto Patronum!" A grave voice said and a silver light shot from a wand, illuminating Professor Lupin's gaunt face. The creature seemed repelled by the silver mist and backed into the corridor. "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Leave now." He said to the creature, who made no attempt to back away any further. "You leave me no choice. Expecto Patronum!" He said again and forced the creature to retreat further.

The further the creature got from them, the less oppressive the atmosphere felt around Dante. The terrible weight that settled on his shoulders lifted, and with it, the miserable chill.

The others huddled around Harry to check on him, and to Dante's horror, Harry's eyes rolled back and he collapsed into a dead faint. "Harry?" He asked frantically, nudging his chest. "Harry!"

The boy started and looked around blearily. "What happened to me?"

"Well, you sort of went rigid." Ron said, looking uncomfortable. "We thought you were maybe having a fit or something."

Harry looked at the faces around him. "And did any of you, you know, pass out?"

Megan, Neville, Ginny, and Daphne just shook their heads, but Ron spoke up. "No, I felt weird though; like I'd never be cheerful again."

"There was a woman screaming, is she alright?" Harry asked shamefacedly.

"No one was screaming, Harry." Hermione said gently.

Professor Lupin came back in and knelt down to Harry. "Here, eat this, it'll help." He handed Harry a piece of something dark brown. Harry eyed it suspiciously. "It's alright, it's chocolate. All of you, have a piece. It helps, it really helps."

"What was that thing?" Harry asked.

"It was a Dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. It was searching the train for Sirius Black. Eat. You'll feel better." He added the last bit, pointing at the chunk of chocolate in Harry's hand. He timidly brought it up to his mouth and bit a piece off. Dante followed suit and immediately felt a pleasant warmth surge into his body from his mouth. "Dementors feed on your emotions and your memories. They force you to relive your worst experiences. That was the misery that you all felt when the Dementor boarded the train."

"So those things are what the Ministry has stationed at Hogwarts?" Dante asked.

"Indeed. Until such a time that Sirius Black is caught, the Dementors will be patrolling the grounds to keep you all safe from him."

"I feel better already." Harry said dryly.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver." Lupin said and again left the compartment, leaving the eight of them still cramped in there.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I'm fine. The Dementor just got under my skin." He bit out.

"They're horrible." Neville agreed.

"We should all go back to our compartments." Megan said, nudging Neville and Ginny. They all got up and left, leaving the compartment much less cramped, to Dante's relief.

"Should we get out and change? Leave Hermione and Daphne with the room to themselves?" Ron asked, hoping to move on from the Dementor encounter.

"Probably a good idea." Harry nodded. We aren't far now."

As the train crept closer to school, the five teens pulled on their school robes and house adornments. Dante and Hermione both got back to their books while Harry, Ron and Daphne talked about Quidditch. They arrived at Hogsmeade Station and Dante saw Megan warily eyeing the carriages, looking reluctant to approach them.

"You okay?" He asked, walking over to her.

"I didn't know they used them to pull the carriages." She said, looking at where horses would be.

Dante looked at the same spot in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You can't see them." She said flatly. "Remember? Snape took me to see them after Lockhart died." She took hold of Dante's wrist and started dragging him towards the front of the carriage, ignoring his protests. "You should be able to feel them."

Dante's fingers brushed against something cold and leathery. Whatever it was, he couldn't see it. "Thestrals." He understood. "It's alright. Get in. I'm going to catch up with my friends. I'll see you up at the castle." He said, leaving her to continue ogling the invisible horses.

"What was Megan upset about?" Harry asked.

"She can see the Thestrals pulling the carriages." Dante answered. "Probably a nasty reminder about Lockhart for her, right after a damn Dementor brought up the misery she felt about that. Remind me never to do anything bad enough to get sent to Azkaban."

"I think you'll do fine without the reminder." Hermione quipped. "They are horrible. Azkaban must be a truly awful place."

When everyone was seated, the Thestrals began pulling them all up to the castle, lumbering along. Ron would occasionally glance out the front window as they rode, drawing Dante's attention. "You see them, too, don't you?"

Ron nodded sadly. "Yeah."

"I'm surprised that I can't." Harry said. "I damn near saw you die first year, Dante."

"I wasn't _quite _dead." Dante said in a faux British accent and smirked at Hermione.

"Oh, yes of course. Just _mortally wounded_." She giggled.

"Actually, I think I pulled through." He said, continuing with the faux accent.

"What in Merlin's name are you two talking about?" Daphne asked.

"A movie called Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Dante answered.

"If you ever get a chance to watch it, it'll leave you in stitches!" Hermione laughed. "I've seen it so many times and I still can't stop laughing when they get to the rabbit."

"What's a movie?" Daphne asked.

"It's…" Dante began, trying to think of the best way to describe them. "We have the moving paintings here, right?"

Daphne nodded.

"Imagine a painting that could change its setting and it told a story. The perspective that you look at the setting could change and it could even cut from one perspective to another instantly."

She and Ron considered this for a while. "Is that what the lettyvision was at your family's place?"

"Television, Ron, or TV, and yes. That's the painting, and it can change its picture to whatever you like." Dante nodded.

They stopped at the wide stone steps to the front door of the castle and got out of the carriage. Bidding Daphne goodbye, they made their way to the third-year section of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. At one end of the table, Percy was standing and looking around the Hall impressively with his Head Boy badge gleaming in the candlelight.

After the first-years were sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood up and commanded silence. "Thank you all. Now, I'd like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast. As I'm sure you've all heard by now, a man by the name of Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban prison. Rest assured that the Ministry has taken every measure to protect you all. This is why, until further notice, until such a time as Sirius Black is captured, Hogwarts will play host to the Dementors of Azkaban, and they will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. A word of caution: Dementors are vicious creatures. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. That is why I ask each and every one of you, give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving.

Moving swiftly onto staff concerns, Professor Kettleburn has decided to retire, in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid."

Applause erupted from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables while groans sounded from Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Hagrid stood up from his place at the staff table and bowed bashfully before sitting down.

"As for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, we have now Professor Remus Lupin. Good luck, Professor!"

"Of course! That's why he knew to give us chocolate!" Hermione said quietly.

"You've heard me waffling on for long enough, tuck in!" Dumbledore said cheerfully and the plates in front of everyone were immediately filled with delicious looking food. The feast was as delicious as ever, Dante tucking into some shepherd's pie. The richness of the food quickly filled them all up and before long, they were on their way up to Gryffindor tower. Harry and Hermione were pulled aside on their way to the common room by Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall, so Dante and Ron continued the climb up Gryffindor tower on their own.

"Percy's pleased to be Head Boy, then." Dante said, watching the most pompous Weasley strutting up the stairs to Gryffindor tower, leading the first-years.

Ron groaned. "The menace hasn't shut up about it ever since he got that bloody badge. He's been insufferable."

Dante suddenly felt a wave of self satisfaction from Hermione and shook his head to clear it. Whenever he and Hermione were close now, the other's emotions were a constant presence in their heads.

"You alright?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, 'Mione just got really excited over something."

"Bloody hell… I can't imagine what that must be like. Can you two do that when you're in America and she's here?"

"Somewhat." He said as he climbed through the portrait hole. "It isn't as strong as when we're both here, in the castle."

"D'you…" Ron started, looking uncomfortable. "Do you think you could give me some advice for talking to girls?"

Dante, for his part, was taken aback. "Er… I suppose. I'd take any advice from me or Hermione with a grain of salt. The two of us have only been in one relationship and it's hardly normal."

"Right. It's just there's a girl that I'd like to take to Hogsmeade when we get a chance."

"Who is she?"

"Daphne."

Dante grinned. "She might like you already, if she could sit through you bragging about going to Egypt for the seventh time."

"It was exciting!" Ron protested.

"I'm sure it was. What do you think I was like when I came back from here for the first time?"

"Bet you were a right foul git." Ron said.

"Imagine having to keep being a wizard a secret from most of your family! It was infuriating!"

"So how would I go about asking her to Hogsmeade?" Ron asked, ignoring Dante's plight.

"I dunno… just pull her aside and ask if she's planning on going with anyone."

"That's it?" Ron asked.

"Well the more complicated you make it, the more nervous you'll be about screwing up." Dante reasoned. "Whenever we find out our schedules, we'll know what classes we share with her. After whatever class, just… fall into step beside her and start talking."

"That sounds easy enough." Ron nodded. "How'd you and Hermione like Romania?"

"It was great! The beach at Constanţa was a bit dirty, though, so we went north a bit to Mamaia instead. There was a town in Transylvania that we went to called Braşov, looked like I had fallen into a fairy tale. On the way back to Bucharest from there we stumbled on a road called the Transfăgărăşan Highway that…" Dante stopped to consider this. "This next bit isn't going to make a lot of sense to you, being raised by wizards."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Driving really isn't a thing in the wizarding world, is it?"

"No."

"The point is, overall it was a great trip. Kinda wish the Grangers didn't go out of their way to spend so much."

"They're hardly going to expect you to pay your way. You're thirteen."

"I know, I just can't imagine how expensive it would be to get train tickets for four from London to Bucharest, and four plane tickets from Bucharest to London."

"I don't know how muggle money works so I don't have any idea. I can't believe you got in a metal tube that flew."

"Planes are great. Most comfortable way to travel, being honest."

The portrait opened and Harry and Hermione clambered into the common room. "Hello boys." Hermione said brightly.

"What'd McGonagall want?" Dante asked.

"Oh, she just wanted to go over my schedule with me." Hermione said dismissively, though she didn't seem to want to look anyone in the face.

"She and Madam Pomfrey wanted to dote on me over the Dementor." Harry grumbled. "They were impressed with Lupin, though. Madam Pomfrey wanted to give me more chocolate but I said Lupin already gave us some. Said 'Finally a Defense Professor who knows some basic remedies.' "

"Ooh, I can't wait for his classes." She gushed. "He seemed pretty good on the train."

"He's definitely quite friendly." Dante nodded. "Flattering the four of us."

"That was odd though, him recognizing all four of us and not just you, Harry." Ron said.

"He did say that our adventures are hardly secrets." Dante reasoned. "It would be hard to keep two second-years and technically a first-year going down into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue another first-year and killing a Basilisk in the process a secret."

"And a second-year beating a professor in a duel." Harry added.

"And a pair of first-years fighting a professor to the death." Hermione said.

"Yes, I really do wonder how he knew who we were, Ron." Dante smirked.

"As much as I would like to speculate about our new professor, I am quite tired. I'll see you in the morning, boys. Good night." Hermione said before heading up the stairs to the girls dormitories.

"I reckon we should go to bed, too. I just want to put this day behind me." Harry mumbled.

They climbed the stairs to the third-year dormitory and settled into their four-poster beds, each wondering what the next day would bring.

* * *

A/N: I really do apologize for the lengthy delay here, the main thing being good old fashioned writer's block. I struggled for a very long time to get my mind focused on this chapter and especially how to end it. Another factor was me actually going on vacation to Romania, so that was another major distraction.

I'm starting Chapter 3-2 right away and hopefully you all will forgive this horrific delay.


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